History of the Second World War

Latest Episodes:

37: The Spanish Civil War Pt. 2 - The Coup of July 1936 Dec 16, 2020

Show notes

As political unrest escalated military leaders all across Spain and Morocco began to put in place a plan to drastically alter the situation in Spain.

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Spanish Civil War Interview Series 2: Asturian Revolution with Dr. Matthew Kerry Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Matthew Kerry the author of Unite, Proletarian Brothers! Radicalism and Republicanism in the Second Spanish Republic which was released earlier this year. Our discussion focused on the events in Asturias, a region of Spain, in 1934. During October 1934, there would be a national strike throughout Spain, and in most areas this strike would be either quickly broken up or would rapidly burn itself out. However in Asturias the strike would morph into a true revolution and for two weeks Asturias would be under the control of revolutionary committees. In the end 1700 people would be killed in Asturias, and 260 members of the Spanish military. One of the topics that we touch on near the end and which I think is really important is the role that Asturias would play in Franco's narrative of imminent and very possible revolution during and after the events of the Civil War.

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Spanish Civil War Interview Series 1: Spanish Anarchism with Dr. James Yeoman Dec 13, 2020

Show notes

This is our first episode in our Spanish Civil War interview series. In the decades before the Spanish Civil War Spain had experienced a very rocky political period. The Spanish economy had been somewhat precarious even before the economic upheavals of the First World War, and the resulting economic booms and busts of that war would set the country up for a tumultuous 1920s and 1930s. There were many different political beliefs present in Spain at this time, and one political ideology that would gain a lot of traction within Spain was Anarchism. In the following interview I chatted with Dr. James Yeoman to discuss why the Anarchist movement was so well supported within Spain, and how the role of anarchist groups both within Spain and as viewed by international Anarchists, played an important role in the years before the Civil War.

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Spanish Civil War Interview Series 0: Introduction Dec 13, 2020

Show notes

Over the last few months I have been recording interviews with a host of excellent guests. All of these interviews have been centered around one topic, the Spanish Civil War.

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HMS Warspite with Iain Ballantyne Dec 11, 2020

Show notes

This episode is the first interview for the podcast, but certainly not the last. Last week I released the Warspite special, when I did that I did the normal social media stuff, and when I posted on Twitter Iain Ballantyne was tagged. For every series of episodes for the podcast there is a foundational source, it is sometimes the book I read first, sometimes the book I find the most useful, but there is always something that functions as the baseline for all of my other research. For the Warspite special that episode was Mr. Ballantyne's Warspite. After a bit of back and forth on Twitter we ended up arranging an interview that was done just the past Wednesday, and I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy it, our conversation discussed a few pieces of the podcast, and some of the research that Mr. Ballantyne did for the book. If you would like to check out any of Mr. Ballantyne's books you can find a link in the show notes or on the website over at historyofthesecondworldwar.com/interviews. You can look forward to more interviews starting on Sunday December 13th, at which point the Spanish Civil War Interview series will begin.

Find other works by Iain Ballantyne at http://iainballantyne.com/

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36: Spanish Civil War Pt. 1 - The Second Republic Dec 09, 2020

Show notes

Spanish politics would have a rough and rocky century before the First World War, and the uncertainty was only beginning.

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35: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War Pt. 2 - Resolution Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

After the Italians moved into Ethiopia there was little doubt in how the war would end, unless another European power became involved.

Sources:

* Great Britain and the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935-1936 by Louis John Smith

* Black Nationalism and the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict 1934-1936 by William r. Scott

* 'No More Hoares to Pairs': British Foreign policymaking and the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935 by Andrew Holt

* Canada, Sanctions, and the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 by Brock Millman

* Between Rome and London: Pius XI, the Catholic Church, and the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935-1936 by Peter C. Kent

* The Catholic Missions, British West African Nationalists, and the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia, 1935-36 by S.K.B. Asante

* The Effect of Italy's Expansionist Policies on Anglo-Egyptian Relations in 1935 by L. Morsy

* The Ethiopian Intelligentsia and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1941 by Bahru Zewde

* Imperial Links: The Italian-Ethiopian War and Japanese New Order Thinking, 1935-36 by Reto Hofmann

* Imperial Defense in the Mediterranean on the Eve of the Ethiopian Crisis (July-October 1935) by Rosario Quartararo

* The Japanese and the Italo-Ethiopian Crisis, 1935-36 by S.O. Agbi

* The League's Handling of the Italo-Abyssinian Dispute by Alfred Zimmern

* The Machinery of British Policy in the Ethiopian Crisis by Gaines Post Jr.

* The Test of Aggression in the Italo-Ethiopian War by Quincy Wright

* The Hoare-Laval Plan: A Study in International Politics by Henderson B. Braddick

* The Royal Navy and the Ethiopian Crisis of 1935-36 by Arthur Marder

* The World Crisis of 1936 by Marquess of Lothian

* British West Indian Reaction to the Italian-Ethiopian War: An Episode in Pan-Africanism by Robert G. Weisbord

* British Policy in East Africa, March 1891-May 1935 by James C. Robertson

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Special 1: HMS Warspite Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

A memorial stands near Prussia Cove in Southwest England, a small reminder of a ship that had served its purpose, defending a worldwide empire for 30 years and during some of its darkest days. It reads "HMS Warspite 1915 - 1945 Ran aground and broken up on these rocks 1947, her final haven. Known to all who served aboard her as The Grand Old Lady. May she with many gallant shipmates rest in peace."
During this long episode we will discuss the entire life of the ship, from the design of the Queen Elizabeth class battleships that would be launched in 1915, through the First World War and Jutland, the great unknown of the interwar years, the refits of the 1920s and 1930s, into war once again in 1939, and then finally to Warspite's final campaigns in 1945 as an old, battered, and broken ship.

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34: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War Pt. 1 - Invasion Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

In October 1935 Italian forces would invade Ethiopia ending months of negotiations and discussions that attempted to find a peaceful end to tensions that had been growing for over a year.