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In the half decade after the end of the First World War, the size and the militancy of the trade union movement was at its height and the largest union was the Miner’s Federation of Great Britain. The appalling treatment of miners by pit owners was exacerbated by the decline in the industry’s fortunes after the war, leading to strike action by the 900,000 miners in Britain. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect t
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The long battle of attrition by the Japanese Army against the resilient US Marine Corps on Guadalcanal began with serious miscalculations by Japan. Both sides saw the island as a linchpin in the Pacific War and Japan’s over confidence and their imperial over stretch led to their eventual defeat, but not before inflicting immense losses on America, on land and at sea. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the pas
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Following the victory over Japan at Midway, the US Navy was unprepared for a devastating defeat inflicted on its landing force at Guadalcanal. The Japanese sought to control islands close to the sea lanes vital to Australia’s survival; shutting them off would bring the country to its knees and prevent it becoming a staging post for the liberation of Asia and the Pacific. The commitment of America to Guadalcanal would lead to one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Pacific war. Explaining History h
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The Battle of Midway was the first major victory of the US Navy in the Second World War, resulting in the loss of four out of Japan’s six carriers. This devastating defeat was not the end of Japan’s war in the Pacific, but it signalled the start of a downward trajectory from which Japan would not deviate, despite the ability to inflict losses on America until the end of the war. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We con
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In the half decade after the Second World War, a stream of wanted Nazi war criminals, including Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele fled from Germany and escaped via Italy to Argentina and Brazil. They lived relatively openly in the established German communities in both countries and only a handful were ever brought to justice. In this special edition of the Explaining History podcast, we hear from Guy Walters, whose book, Hunting Evil examines the hidden history of this often mythologised chapter
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America’s war in the Pacific had begun with Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and within six months the US Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on Japan at the Battle of Midway. American admirals and aviators learned the rules of naval warfare quickly, despite the fact that Japan initially outclassed America in naval warfare and aviation. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you
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By the summer of 1942 the Japanese military was drunk on the victories it had achieved in the previous six months of war. It had over run Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Indochina, and it had dealt America a huge blow at Pearl Harbour and had seized the American protectorate of the Philippines. It was precisely this arrogance and risk taking that would result in a series of naval disasters and defeats in the summer of 1942, starting with setbacks at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Explaining History h
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Between 1915 and 1918 all sides in the First World War used poison gas against one another, but it was Germany that was the biggest pioneer of battlefield chemical weapons. The last year of the war saw the highest intensity of gas use as the desperation by all sides for a breakthrough intensified. 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.▸ S
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In the aftermath of the Second World War a set of global institutions allied with a social democratic shift in several leading world economies to create a relatively stable post war economic order. The long and bitter memories of the 1930s and the destruction of the Second World War gave rise to this post war new order. By the 1970s this had started to fall into decline and provide opportunities for the political and economic insurrectionaries of neoliberalism to seize control of economic agenda
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In the mid 1960s a series of plots were considered, with varying degrees of organisation and commitment, to overthrow the Labour governments of Harold Wilson using the army. Even though a coup failed to transpire, the plots showed that deeply reactionary forces in the army, the City of London and the aristocracy were resistant to the modest reforms of the decade and the social change that accompanied mass affluence. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conve