World War I 1914-18 was the culmination of decades of slowly building antagonism. There were disagreements over colonial territories and the rights to the Balkans, and arms-races and warplans urged an aggressive solution. But what would Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Britain and Russia actually gain from a war?
Trench warfare, submarines, naval blockades, machine guns and tanks made World War I the first industrialized war. 10 million men were sent to their deaths. This is a comprehensive overview of the war year by year, as it took place on the Western, Eastern, and Southern fronts, on the oceans, and at home.
With an entire generation of young men lost, and much of Europe blown to pieces, World War I had grave consequences for its participants. Germany, Austria, Britain, the USSR and the USA fared very differently after the war. Who lost the most, and did anyone come out as the winner?
The plan was to create an international forum for solving disputes and preserving everlasting peace. Nevertheless, Japan invaded China, Italy invaded Ethiopia, Spain underwent a brutal civil war, and Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Still, the League of Nations pioneered international cooperation in making the world better.
When confronted with totalitarian National Socialism, few people realise that Adolf Hitler had to make several attempts before becoming leader of Germany in 1933. He formed his own political movement and tried both revolution and democratic appeal to the masses. When finally appointed chancellor, Hitler used legality: Using the law to eliminate all opponents and make himself Fuehrer.
Stalin did not create the Soviet Communist Party, and did not orchestrate the Bolshevik Revolution. But three years after the death of Lenin in 1924, it was Stalin who was in control. He managed this through use of his position as General Secretary of the Communist Party, by manipulating his friends, and by changing the entire way of life for the Russian people.
The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 was a war between the Left and the Right, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless. The causes of the war were long term; an arrogant aristocracy, a powerful church and a conservative army and a system in which the poor could not continue. But the civil war was started by those who used to be in power: The Spanish army.
In contrast to the stalemate trench wars of World War I, the Second World war was a war of movement. The first half of the war saw vast German conquests all over Europe. The second half saw the Third Reich implode, as the Allies fought back the Wehrmacht on all sides. In the Pacific, the Japanese conquests and expansion was followed by a similar implosion of empire.
Mao Tse Tung's way into power is tightly intertwined with the development and struggle of the Chinese Communist Party. For twenty-odd years Mao and the Communist Party fought the ruling rightwing Kuomingtang, then the Japanese, and again the Kuomingtang. Once in power in 1949, Mao launched a series of campaigns designed to both transform China and destroy his own rivals.
As World War II came to a close, two superpowers emerged, with strongly conflicting ideologies. The defeat of Nazi Germany had created a powervaccuum in Europe, which both superpowers desperately wanted to fill. And mutual fear and distrust, fuelled by a nuclear arms race, created a war of decades of fear of a nuclear destruction. Orthodox, revisionist and post-revisionist historical schools of thought have each sought to identify the origins of the war.
The Cold War spanned over four decades, and greatly influenced the lives of people all over the world. Nuclear weapons and space technology were the main weapons in a war of deterrence. The aim for both the competing superpowers was to stop the spread of influence of the other. This episode focuses on three topics: How did the war begin? Why did it go on for so long, and how did it finally end?
Germany played a pivotal role in the Cold War, both in its beginning, during its course, and in the end. As Germany and Berlin became divided between East and West, it became a symbol of the impossiblity in solving the conflicts between democratic capitalism and communism. Berlin was the one place where the two superpowers actually faced each other. Towards the end of the Cold War, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in Nov. 1989 marked the definite point of disintegration of Soviet Control.
The Vietnam War 1955-1975 was a civil war, a Cold War proxy war, and a war of liberation. While the USA fought in Vietnam to prevent the Domino-effect of Chinese communism, the Northvietnamese fought South in order to instill a communist system in a united Vietnam. And at the same time, the Vietnamese saw the war as a war of liberation, fighting to throw out whom they saw as just another imperialist conqueror. The Vietnam War changed the way many people saw America, and also changed the way America saw itself.
Castro was controversial in coming into power. He tried democratic means, went to prison for attacking the Cuban army, and fought as a guerilla warrior. He was Marxist, but admired Spanish right-wing dictator Franco. And he has been hailed as the champion of the poor and weak, one of the few to dare continuously to challenge the USA.
The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 and the Vietnam War 1955-75 were both civil wars which became tangled up in international politics. The Spanish Civil War became a war between Fascism and Communism, with Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin supplying men and materiel. The Vietnam War became a proxy war within the Cold War, with the USA and Anzac fighting communism. This episode investigates how this interference affected the wars.
Fascist dictator Mussolini and Marxist leader Castro show remarkable similarities in their methods to ensure that they would not lose their power. Secret police, militarising society, and imprisoning opponents were balanced with instigating campaigns for economic improvements and installing pride in their subjects by extending national influence to other countries. One leader entered retirement as an old man, the other was killed by his subjects and hung at an Esso gas station, together with his mistress.
World War I was a trench-war, fought with machine guns and artillery shells. World War II was a war of movement, with airplanes, tanks, and motorized infantry. The Cold War was one of nuclear deterrence and proxy wars using jetfighters and helicopters. The trend now is to use fewer soldiers, but train and equip them better. In naval warfare, it is to combine battleships with airplanes, while air war today is about superiority of airspace and remote-controlled fighter drones.
During World War I planes were used mainly for reconnaissance. In World War II it was for bombing raids. During the Gulf War airsuperiority became central. Satellites now monitor the battlefields, and guided missiles have a meter close precision. Stealth bombers and jet fighters are difficult to hit from the ground. With unmanned drone planes, human pilots are no longer needed on some missions. But while fewer pilots might lose their lives, the costly technology widens the gap between strong and weak nations.
The intentionalist/structuralist schools of interpretation focus on whether a development is mainly caused by the intentions of an individual, or through the structures of society. Accidentalism identifies historical coincidents as the main force of events, while Hegelian and Marxist historians look at the causes for drastic changes in society through either intellectual movements or economic class-struggle.
The orgins of World War I is investigated through the interpretations of some of the main historians of the war. The Spanish Civil War is interpreted through use of the structuralist/intentionalist historical debate. The beginning of the Cold War is tracked through the development of interpretations over the decades by orthodox, revisionist and post-revisionist schools of interpretation.
Hitler's, Stalin's and Castro's ways into power are each interpreted through the intentionalist/structuralist debate. Hitler is also considered through the Hegelian school of interpretation, Stalin through the Marxist school of interpretation, and Castro through a mix of the two.
The end of World War II is considered through strucuralist and intentionalist interpretations. The end of the Vietnam War is analyzed through the structuralist and and Hegelian schools of interpretation, The end of the Cold War is considered through structuralist, inentionalist and Hegelian arguments, with a consideration of the socalled Reagan Victory School.
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