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In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, civilian governments struggled to establish law and order and in many cars failed to prevent a wave of vigilante violence against those suspected of collaboration. The complicity in Nazi crimes and the everyday experience of occupation created huge divisions in societies of western and eastern Europe and a deep suspicion on the police, who had often been used by the Nazis and collaborationist governments Explaining History helps you understand
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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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This is the second in our two part interview special with historian David Barrett, whose new book 140 Days to Hiroshima examines the decision making regarding the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This time we examine the factionalism within the Japanese wartime leadership, the impact of the second atomic bomb on the regime’s decision making and the role of Emperor Hirohito.You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/140-Days-Hiroshima-Untold-Surrender/dp/1635765811.Th
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In the 1930s the deteriorating world situation presented all major political parties in Britain with profound dilemmas, whether to back pacifism, collective security or appeasement. The peripheral British Union of Fascists advocated peace with Nazi Germany in order to allow Hitler to wage his war against Europe’s Jews. 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 su
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In 1942 Heinrich Himmler appointed a new administrator to the head of his concentration camp network, Oswald Pohl. Pohl saw the key to his personal advancement the utilisation of slave labour for arms manufacture. By late 1942 and in early 1943 it was clear that the tide of war was turning against Germany and Pohl believed that the brutal extraction of work from prisoners could contribute to victory. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expe
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This special episode of the Explaining History Podcast features historian David Barrett, whose new book 140 Days to Hiroshima examines the decision making regarding the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This is the first of two interviews with David and it explores the decisions by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Truman to use the bomb instead of an amphibious landing in the Japanese home islands.You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/140-Days-Hiroshima-Un
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The Nazis always intended to wage a war of annihilation in the Soviet Union and both soldiers and civilians would die in unprecedented numbers. In the Nazi camps Soviet soldiers were left to starve, but the Soviet political officers, the commissars, were targeted for immediate execution wherever they were discovered. 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 subs
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The coordination and control of the German press by the Nazis took several years to complete as prior to 1933, the German newspaper industry was among the most diverse and vibrant in the world. A process of intimidation and self censorship, combined with Nazi confiscation and theft destroyed German press independence within three years. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy t
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Even before 1933, the Nazis were aware that radio offered then unprecedented opportunities to shape public thought. However, the use of radio did not quite have the power to create the type of existential and cultural revolution that Goebbels and Hitler had envisaged. 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 Exclusiv
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Seizing political power was just the beginning of the Nazi programme, creating a profound and lasting cultural change among Germans to undo the perceived corruption of Germanic culture by the Weimar Republic was the longer struggle. Hitler’s war on liberal democracy and socialism was in his view a bid to reclaim the essence of German identity from false and foreign ideas. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the