History of the Second World War

We have talked about the Maginot Line and rearmament, now it is time to look at what the French army was planning to do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If France wanted to compete militarily with the growing power of Germany, it was going to have to start a serious effort to rearm itself. Email: [email protected] Twitter: WorldWar2Pod Website: historyofthesecondworldwar.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Usually these interviews start with a topic and go from there, but in this case I was joined by Dr. Alexander Clarke for a wide ranging discussion on naval history. We talked about the Royal Navy, the perception of its preparations for war, the role that naval aviation played in naval planning during the interwar years, Dr. Clarke's upcoming book on British destroyers, and several other topics. You can find Dr. Clarke's upcoming book Tribals, Battles and Darings: The Genesis of the Modern Destroyer at:https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tribals-Battles-Darings/p/18442https://www.usni.org/press/books/tribals-battles-and-daringsYou can find far more Dr. Clarke over at:http://twitter.com/AC_NavalHistoryhttp://youtube.com/DrAlexanderClarke Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last years before the war there were many different concerns in Paris, honestly too many to cover in one episode, but this episode discusses a few of them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the wars were over, there were millions of veterans and each nation and each group of veterans found themselves in different positions. In this interview I was joined by Dr. Martin Crotty, Dr. Neil Diamant, and Dr. Mark Edele to discuss their book that looks at the experiences of veterans from many different nations after both World Wars. Check out The Politics of Veteran Benefits in the Twentieth Century here https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501751639/the-politics-of-veteran-benefits-in-the-twentieth-century/#bookTabs=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the victory of the Popular Front it was time to completely transform French society, to fix all of the problems they had identified in the previous years....right? RIGHT?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The events of February 6th 1934 would result in a new unity on the French Left, enter the Popular Front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Release Note: I was unable to record this week, so pulling forward this interview that was going to release later this year. In this interview I was joined by Dr. Michael Hankins to discuss Fighter Pilot Nostalgia before, during and after the Second World War. The conversation ends up far past the Second World War, but I simply cannot resist a discussion of jet fighters. You can follow Dr. Hankins on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HankinstienDr. Hankins' Website: http://mwhankins.com/index.htmlFlying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501760655/flying-camelot/From Balloons to Drones: https://balloonstodrones.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Among the most important projects by France during the 1930s would be relations with other nations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After their victory during the First World War the French had some very real problems. Those problems and their possible solutions would shape French policy during the interwar years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the interwar period the French decided to take a bit of concrete and build some fortifications, 5 billion Francs later they had completed an impressive bit of construction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Dr. Millington on Twitter: @DrCMillingtonA History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/history-of-fascism-in-france-9781350006539 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Anschluss occurred, there would be no fighting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During February 1938 relations between Austria and Germany begin to spiral out of control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On November 5th 1937 a meeting would take place where Hitler would outline the situation in Europe as he saw it, and why Germany would soon have to go to war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The concept of joining Austria and Germany was not a new idea though, and certainly not one that originated in Nazi Germany. It was instead something that was quite popular at various points in the past, and during this episode we will look at the roots of Pan-Germanism as a movement in the months and years immediately following the end of the First World War, and also why those Pan-Germanist dreams were not fulfilled after 1918. The movement would then have an interesting evolution as its strongest supporters in 1919 would be its strongest opponents in 1938, and shift that we will touch on both in this episode and in episode 58. Website: http://www.historyofthesecondworldwar.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/historyofhegreatwar Apple Podcast Subscription: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/history-of-the-world-wars/id6442476986?ls=1&at=1010l36mt&ct=01 Twitter: @WorldWar2Pod Facebook: historyofthesecondworldwar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we talk about what we will be talking about. Website: http://www.historyofthesecondworldwar.comPatreon: http://www.patreon.com/historyofhegreatwarApple Podcast Subscription: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/history-of-the-world-wars/id6442476986?ls=1&at=1010l36mt&ct=01Twitter: @WorldWar2PodFacebook: historyofthesecondworldwar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the fall of Nanking, there was still no end in sight for the fighting in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Japanese Army took Nanking in December, what would follow was pain, death, and suffering. Jutland Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymr1u5hy1XQ&t=1s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Japanese landings from Hangzou Bay the Chinese positions in and around Shanghai become completely untenable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the fighting spilled outside the city with Japanese landings on the river, the fighting would continue for months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the Japanese invasion of northern China continued, further south the first major battle of the war was about to begin in the streets of Shanghai. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The establishment of the puppet state of Manchuria would not be the end of the adventures of the Japanese in China, and instead they would endeavor over the course of the next decade to extend their influence, and during that expansion they would eventually fall into a full scale war with China. This episode will first look at why the Japanese felt they had to constantly increase the territory under their control, before looking at the Marco Polo Bridge incident, which would ignite the Second Sino-Japanese War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the 1930s China would experience a devastating invasion. This invasion was launched by the Japanese who were trying to obtain greater access to the natural resources available in Manchuria and northern China. The result would be the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, a devastating conflict, and perhaps the start of the Second World War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spanish Civil War was over, but its legacy would live on, both inside Spain and in a Europe that was soon plunging into a much larger conflict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything that has a beginning has an end. MERCH! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/history-of-the-second-world-war-podcast Intelligent Speech 4/24: https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/shop/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Register for Intelligent Speech! https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/shop/ and use code GREAT After the defeat at the Battle of Teruel, and with Valencia under threat, the Republic launches yet another attack, this time across the River Ebro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The large Republican attacks on the city of Teruel would backfire, and result not in victory, but with the Nationalists reaching the coast, cutting Republican Spain in two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Tom Wardle. Tom's research focuses on memory activism and how the Spanish Civil War is remembered, and how that memory is fought over, in modern day Spain. When discussing history it can be easy to fall into just discussing Person A did thing B on date C, when in fact one of the most important aspects of history is not just what happened, but also what the effects of those events were, and how we today remember those events. Near the end of our discussions Tom mentions the award winning 2018 documentary The Silence of Others, which I recommend to anybody who wants to learn more about some of the subjects we discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Louis Dean Valencia. Our conversation covered several different topics, including the concept of alt/histories, or the purposeful misrepresentation of history to serve a specific, often political, purpose. This idea is in no way limited to the history of the Spanish Civil War, or the Second World War, but is a concept that can be found throughout history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Stephanie Wright. The author of “Glorious Brothers, Unsuitable Lovers: Moroccan Veterans, Spanish Women, and the Mechanisms of Francoist Paternalism.” We discussed the treatment of wounded war veterans in post-Civil War Spain and Morocco. We also discuss Dr. Wright's current research into sexual violence in Francoist Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I will be giving a talk at Intelligent Speech 2021 on April 24th. Register now to hear me talk about the Czech Legion, and excellent presentations from 40 other presenters. Use code: great in the cart for an extra 10% discountBuy here! https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/shop/= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Republican attacks were launched in the hope of forcing forces to be moved from the north to other areas of Spain. These two attacks, at Guadarrama and Huesca will be our first topic for this episode. However, the primary focus will be on the battle of Brunete. This attack would be launched in July 1937 by the Republican Army and it would achieve one of its goals of forcing the Nationalists to move troops away from their attacks in the north, even if it was in reality too late to halt the collapse of the enclave. The Republicans would commit their best troops, and most of their armor assets, to the attack at Brunete and the failure of the attack would begin a clear decline in the fighting capabilities of the Republican forces, from which they would never really recover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Stephen Rainbird. Stephen's research focuses on the political relationship between Spain, Britain, and Portugal in the years before and during the Second World War. Our conversation focused mostly on the reaction of British political leaders to the events in Spain that led up to the Civil War, and then some of the reasons that the British government chose the path that it did during the conflict. We also discuss the very important matter of piracy in the Mediterranean during the war, where the pirates somehow got ahold of Italian submarines, spoke Italian, and were getting paid by the Italian government, weird situation really. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the opening battles of the Civil War, behind the front the political maneuverings would continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-scots-and-the-spanish-civil-war.html On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Fraser Raeburn. This interview continues our series of regional specific discussions, in this case about Scotland and how people in Scotland reacted to the Spanish Civil War, why some of them chose to go to Spain to fight in the International Brigades, and the humanitarian efforts that originated in Scotland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Charles Esdaile. Unlike some of the other interviews I have done for this series, this interview focuses very heavily on the military side of the conflict. At the end of the day the Spanish Civil War was a military conflict, and the military side of the story does deserve some attention. One of the interesting items that we discussed was how a seemingly small decision, how military units were organized, could have consequences that caused issues for the Republicans even outside the military theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the failure to take Madrid, the Nationalist shift their focus, and in their sights is the Republican Enclave in northern Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Jess Thorne to discuss the treatment and experiences of prisoners during the Civil War and after. Discussing prisoners during a Civil War is always interesting because their experiences are often quite different than what is experienced by more traditional Prisoners of War. There was a political dimension for why they were imprisoned during the war, and then why they were kept in prison after the war was over and we discuss that dimension and the consequences of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Charlotte Walmsley a PhD researcher focusing on post-conflict gender violence. Gender violence is a phrase that we use several times in this interview, and so I thought it would be good to give a clear and concise definition of the term. I am by no means an expert on the topic, but there is a good quote from the European Institute for Gender Equality: "Gender-based violence and violence against women are terms that are often used interchangeably as it has been widely acknowledged that most gender-based violence is inflicted on women and girls, by men. However, using the ‘gender-based’ aspect is important as it highlights the fact that many forms of violence against women are rooted in power inequalities between women and men." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Nationalist attack on Madrid was stopped, they shifted tactics and attempted to surround the capital with an attack from the south across the Jarama river and from the north near Guadalajara. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Jess McIvor, a PhD researcher to discuss the portrayal of women fighters during the Spanish Civil War. One of the really interesting pieces of the story of the Civil War is how it interacted with the views of the different groups around what they felt Spanish society was and should be. The presence of women within the militia units early in the war gave this ideological conflict a greater urgency and focus. Jess also mentions several excellent authors throughout the interview, which you can find linked to on the website over at historyofthesecondworldwar.com/interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Karl Qualls to discuss his research into the Spanish child refugees that would make their way to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War. These children would have unique experiences during their time within the Soviet Union, first expected to be a few months, turned into years and then decades. Many of them would never be able to openly return to Spain, and the Soviet Union would become their new home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the Spanish Civil War was Spanish in both origin and participation, there would be both diplomatic and military involvement from other nations around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Ed Packard from the Basque Children Association. We discussed the story of the 4000 children that were brought to Britain in 1937. These children came to Britain at a time when their homes and their families were in serious danger, and their story is a mixture of fascinating and heartbreaking. If you want to learn more you go go to basquechildren.org, which I have included a link for in the show notes and on the podcast's website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madrid was the capital of Spain, and with its location in the center of the Iberian peninsula it was within striking distance of a nationalist advance. Capturing the city would be a huge political victory for the Nationalists, and so it would be the site of one of the first major battles of the Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Alexander Clifford to discuss the International Brigades which would be such an important part of the Spanish Civil War. These groups of international volunteers would bolster the Republican cause, both from a public relations perspective as well as on the battlefields of Spain. We discussed why these individuals chose to go to Spain, what they experienced during their time fighting in the war, and their view of the war when it was over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Harry Taylor, a PhD researcher who focuses on the reaction of Britain to the Spanish Civil War. Harry has done a lot of research into information like how the Civil War was portrayed in British newspapers and the grassroots efforts to try and assist those experiencing hardship in Spain. We talked about many different topics, including milk tokens, a very ingenious way of bringing awareness to the public and of raising money for powdered milk to send to Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we will discuss how the Republican zone of control was organized and some of the disagreements between the various factions. As these disagreements will be an essential theme of this entire series of episodes, this will not be the last time we discuss it. We will also end this episode with some discussion of the role of women within the Republic, and how that participation differed from the gender expectations before the war, and also how the Nationalists used that difference as part of their propaganda campaign. A few of the interviews will also focus on this topic, with some excellent individuals who are far more knowledgeable about the subject than I am. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Ariel Lambe from the University of Connecticut to discuss her book No Barrier Can Contain It: Cuban Antifascism and the Spanish Civil War as well as her ongoing researching into Cuban antifascism in the period surrounding the Spanish Civil War. My conversation with Dr. Lambe was fascinating, and provided unique insight into events in Cuba before and after the Civil War, and how those events were both related to events in Spain and uniquely Cuban. Cuba was in a somewhat unique position given its colonial past and its continuing connections with Spain and its rich history. We also discussed the somewhat unique role that Cuban volunteers in Spain would play due to their bilingual and international nature. One of the topics that I knew nothing about that we touched on near the end of our interview was the effects that the civil war had on the political situation within Cuba, and how it played a role in altering the course of Cuban history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices