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PODCAST

Making sense of this crazy world

historymadeeasier

I am a student of history, a teacher of history and a writer of history. You could say history is a passion of mine. I have a website for students and I had been mulling around this idea of a podcast for some time. Would people be interested? Would I make it interesting? That’s essentially what was holding me back. But with a new year starting, the craziness still all around us, I thought what the hell – give it a go, John! The primary purpose of the podcast is to use history to help us make a

history documentary

All Episodes

23:21

Egypt

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/11/17

In this episode, I’m turning to Egypt because something really, really important happens in 1956. Something that changes the whole game in the Middle East and beyond, and we need to understand it.

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25:32

Saudi Arabia becomes a key player

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/11/10

We have reached the point in the Middle East at which British rivalry with France is largely superseded by British rivalry with America. BIG SPOLIER – America is going to win this one. Britain’s days as a major power were numbered, they just didn’t see it just yet.

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20:24

Anglo-American Rivalry

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/11/03

Before Britain (and France) had relinquished their mandates in the Middle East, Britain and America were already manoeuvring to put one over one another and ensure predominance in the region. Before it was even over, the Anglo-French rivalry was being replaced by an Anglo-American rivalry, again whilst the two countries were allies fighting the Axis powers.

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20:04

The British Mandate Ends and Israel is Born

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/10/27

This episode looks at the very bitter end of the British mandate and the immediate Arab response to the Israeli state. And it ends with some revelations that will probably surprise you, even shock you, but that are actually understandable.

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18:14

Palestine: Towards the Bitter End

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/10/20

We are now in 1946 and a combination of diplomatic pressure from the Jewish Agency and continued paramilitary activity, as well as propaganda applied in America which led to increased American pressure, and French manoeuvrings too as they sought revenge, all combined to bring about an end to the British mandate in Palestine. In truth, Britain didn’t stand a chance of maintaining its mandate.

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19:32

Palestine and the End Game for the British

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/10/13

I’m returning to the Middle East and to the last years of the British mandate in Palestine. With the defeat of Germany, the full revelations of the Holocaust and the refugee crisis in Europe (there were a quarter of a million refugees of whom more than half were Jewish survivors of the Holocaust; and they were living in awful conditions with winter on its way), the momentum was with the Zionist cause.

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18:42

Britain and America: the Special Relationship

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/10/06

In this episode I'm going to take a little look at the Special Relationship the British and Americans like to talk about and that has worried the French and other Europeans in the post-war world. It was Churchill who actually coined the phrase, referring to a “fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples …. a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States.”

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21:17

Explaining the Cold War: The Berlin Blockade

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/09/29

What happened in Berlin in 1948 and 1949 can be seen in a number of ways. It is the last factor in explaining the cause of the Cold War; and at the same time, it is the first act of the Cold War, the first clash between the two superpowers. It also demonstrates just how Berlin was at the centre of those rings I described in the introduction to this little series.

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18:01

The Soviet Union takes control of eastern Europe and...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/09/22

In 1947 and 1948, the Soviet Union moved to fulfil Churchill’s prediction and gain control of eastern Europe. It created a bloc of countries with governments loyal to them, even if their people weren’t. And America responded.

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13:05

Explaining the Cold War: Allies Fall Out

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/09/15

Mistrust is an interesting word and its worth reflecting on just what it might mean. It could be seen as entirely rational. Based on reason and looking at the Cold War, it would focus on the ideological divide, a divide that appeared to allow for no compromise. Democracy and self-determination versus dictatorship and empire-building. Free trade versus protectionism too. As it might also look to past deeds, for example appeasement of Hitler or the Nazi-Soviet Pact. But it might also be based on

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18:23

Explaining the Cold War: The Context

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/09/08

Though there was a clear ideological divide, this hadn’t prevented the Soviet Union and the West uniting to defeat Hitler. So how was it that allies became enemies, and so quickly? How did Europe come to be divided by, in Churchill’s famous phrase, an ‘iron curtain’? Can we attach blame? Or was it mostly a terrible misunderstanding from both sides? This episode provides the context to this epoch-making momemt in history.

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13:55

Two Incredible Women

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/09/01

I'm breaking away from my history of the Middle East though not entirely. Because it just so happens that while reading a book by a super, super historian Margaret MacMillan; the book: History’s People, I came across two incredible women, one kicking around in the Middle East, the other in the Balkans, around the time of WW1 and I really wanted to share what I learned about them with you. So, a slight diversion to take a look at Gertrude Bell and Edith Durham, two truly incredible women.

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21:18

The End Game for the French in Syria and Lebanon

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/08/25

In this episode we look at the end of the French mandates and take a brief look at what, having been given their independence, Syria and Lebanon were able to do with it.

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20:55

The Middle East and WW2: Victory only muddies the waters

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/08/18

In 1943, we come to a point where the story of the French and British mandates intertwines again, or at least more visibly intertwines for wasn’t it always so. And with victory in Europe looking increasingly likely, the waters, far from becoming clearer, only get more muddied as France and Britain lose control of events.

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24:53

The Middle East and WW2: France divided and Britain...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/08/11

So far, the history of the Middle East has been a complicated story of Britain and France trying to out-manoeuvre each other whilst at the same time out-manoeuvring the Arabs and, in Britain’s case, the Jews too. Couldn’t get more complicated? Of course it could. In WW2, the same complications are there to be seen but now Britain is dealing with two Frances: Vichy France, the third of France that had some autonomy from the Germans so long as they collaborated with them; and Free France led by

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18:28

Palestine and Jordan post WW1: from bad to worse

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/08/04

Everything goes from bad to worse for Britain in Palestine: the Arab Revolt and Zionist terrorism as Hitler's attacks on the Jewish community in Nazi Germany worsens and a second world war looks increasingly likely.

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16:28

The British mandates in Palestine and Jordan after WW1

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/07/28

This episode looks at the dilemma that immediately faced the British in Palestine: how to satisfy Jews and Arabs. What led to the Arab revolt and to Zionist terrorism with Nazi Germany the menacing backdrop. And, too, how Transjordan transformed itself into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

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24:05

Mesopotamia, Persia and Kuwait in-between the wars

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/07/21

Before WW1, what was to become Iraq was administered as three provinces of the Ottoman or Turkish Empire, none of which identified strongly with the others: Mosul, Baghdad and Basra, collectively known as Mesopotamia. Persia (today’s Iran), had been a British protectorate since 1899, as was Kuwait. All three states have become important in recent history. So what was British rule like in those inter-war years?

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23:53

The French in Syria and Lebanon post-WW1

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/07/14

WW1 had been shattering for Europe: at least ten million dead, a lost generation of young men; WW1 had turned Britain from being the world’s largest creditor to being its largest debtor, whilst France’s economy was simply in ruins. European standing might have been dealt a mighty blow, its arrogance not so much. As you will see in this episode, both Britain and France still held unrealistic imperial ambitions.

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22:27

OIl and International Relations

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2024/07/07

This week I’m going to focus on an issue that seems to dominate so much of international relations today, and which, right back at the beginning of the twentieth century, came to dominate Britain’s thinking more and more as WW1 was still being fought out: oil.

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155 results

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