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The journey made by Vladimir Lenin in 1917 from Zurich to Petrograd was part of a German strategy to undermine its enemies from within. Previous attempts at subversion in the British Empire, specifically in Ireland had failed, and there was no way of knowing if Lenin would succeed. Creating chaos in Russia was as much as Germany could realistically hope for, but Russia’s withdrawal from the war was the ultimate result.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more conte
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At the start of the Second World War, India had several overlapping defence concerns and Britain sought to place more cost and responsibility on the government of India. This podcast explores the strategic crisis facing India at the commencement of the war.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Cent
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While the German Army prepared to seize Moscow, the longest siege of the war began at Leningrad on the Gulf of Finland. It would result in the deaths of over a million citizens and see the city completely cut off from Stalin’s control for much of the war. 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 ContentBecom
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An interventionist state, the capture of global markets and the destruction of economic opponents (Germany and Japan) and the loss of Britain’s economic world power saw America emerge as the wealthiest nation in world history from 1945 onwards. This prosperity would shape the hopes and ambitions of an entire generation.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/use
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After a summer and autumn of devastating defeats at the hands of the Wehrmacht, the Red Army was finally able to inflict a major setback on Hitler’s forces just nine miles from Moscow itself. A combination of the Russian winter, Germany’s poor preparations and hardened Siberian divisions saw the first major German retreat of the war in December 1941.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page he
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Following the unilateral declaration of war by the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, in 1939 without consulting any of India’s political parties, longstanding political divisions deepened. The Indian Congress Party and the Muslim League began to agitate for their visions of the future.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History help
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As Lloyd George’s political career ebbed away and he became increasingly marginalised in British politics, his sympathies for Germany and his positive view of Hitler led him to visit the Nazi dictator in September 1936.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and
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Despite Germany’s spectacular advances and the devastating defeats inflicted on the Red Army, Hitler failed to capture Moscow. In late October 1941 the first snows fell, his dreams of a final victory over the USSR disappeared.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversati
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In July 1914 as the final desperate negotiations to avoid war failed, the Ottoman Empire engaged in secret diplomacy with both Germany and Russia to gain as much from the forthcoming conflict as possible. However it was the arrival of a German dreadnought in Constantinople that tied Turkey to the Central Powers.For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century thro
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Britain had a very limited internal security and overseas intelligence capability before the Boer War. However, a government and public obsessed with fears of subversion led to pressures to create a series of agencies that resulted in MI5, Britain’s domestic security service.For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert