1956 Episode 1.10 continues where we left off last time, and looks a bit more at the person of Matyas Rakosi.
Rakosi was the Stalinist dictator of Hungary from the late 1940s, and he set abou...
2024-02-13 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we begin examining the second chapter of the thesis - and it is a fascinating one! This chapter analyses insults in British foreign policy from 1838-1850, and our s...
2024-02-12 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.9 takes a somewhat depressing journey into post-war Hungary, to present a story and a people which suffered much over the course of the Soviet occupation – also known as...
2024-02-08 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Gomulka had survived, but perhaps the most significant aspect of this chapter in Soviet-Polish relations was the notable involvement of China. The Chinese, it emerged, were very int...
2024-02-06 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode we conclude on the first chapter of this thesis, bringing the Eastern Crisis to an end, and reflecting on the significant shifts in British politics. Palmerston had ...
2024-02-05 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
1956 Episode 1.7 examines the continuing deterioration of the Polish situation, as Polish citizens dared to ask more and more questions, and to criticise the Soviet order, on their lips was one fig...
2024-02-01 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
1956 Episode 1.6 examines the tumultuous fallout of Khrushchev’s February speech in the context of Poland.
What was the Polish experience of living in the Soviet orbit? Here we set the scen...
2024-01-30 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we examine the birth of what became the Eastern Question. By the 1830s, the Ottoman Empire was in dire straits. The Sultan's Egyptian vassal had taken the opportuni...
2024-01-29 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
1956 Episode 1.5 examines the implications for the Soviet people, as Khrushchev’s speech is disseminated through the sprawling empire.
The questions which many citizens had ...
2024-01-25 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
1956 Episode 1.4 examines the immediate storm caused by Khrushchev’s denunciations of Stalin in late February.
Above all, the greatest ingredient in this ...
2024-01-23 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome back to the thesis! Here we continue the first chapter of the thesis, specifically my analysis of British obligations during the Portuguese and Spanish Civil Wars. These con...
2024-01-22 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.3 opens with the scene which greeted Khrushchev as he performed that incendiary speech over 24-25th of February 1956. It was a pivotal day in the history of the Soviet Uni...
2024-01-18 06:30:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.2 follows on from where our first episode left off. Here, the power struggle between the Soviet Union’s top men is in full swing, and power plays, character assassinatio...
2024-01-16 06:30:09 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we look at our first chapter, which examines the idea of good faith in international commitments, and how this affected national honour.
Specifically, we look...
2024-01-15 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
What happened when the architect of the Cold War passed away? Would the Soviet Union Stalin built adapt to a new successor, or would a set of chain reactions doom the empire...
2024-01-11 06:35:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome to 1956, an era of schemes, revolution, propaganda, intrigue and a whole lot of diplomacy!
Originally brought exclusively to patrons, I've repurposed ...
2024-01-11 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Before we go any further, we must ground this thesis further in the pre-existing historiography, while clarifying the differences between personal and national honour. What was hono...
2024-01-09 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
For the last four+ years, this PhD thesis has been my obsession. Like pushing a boulder up a hill, the struggle was real. But, sometimes, struggle can produce great things, and I hope you'll agree ...
2024-01-08 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRON]
Welcome back! Here we talk about the State of the Podcast Address' HUGE NEWS - 1) 1956 and how it's all going to work. Also, is it actually interesting? 2) The new PhD Thesis series ...
2024-01-04 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post[PATRONS]
We're back! In case you were unaware, the lack of content over the last while was because of the PhD, which is now finished. This means, yes, I am finally Dr Zack! Imagine that! I h...
2024-01-04 06:25:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Join Ole and I for a fascinating chat about History Challenge, a new way for educators and students to make history thrive! If you want to try it out for yourself, the latest version of this projec...
2023-08-17 16:10:36 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
And so it ends. After 82 episodes and what feels like thirty actual years, we finally wrap up this fascinating period of history. Thanksss so much for tuning in!
Make sure to ...
2023-07-12 17:02:42 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The final episode of our series involves no shortage of intrigue, scheming and mistrust, yet it is also the moment when diplomacy arguably succeeded. After three decades of war, Eur...
2023-06-29 12:41:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Although the Dutch and Spanish had made their peace, 1648 had room for one more campaign, and there had arguably never been so much on the line. With warfare came the chance to secu...
2023-06-14 14:55:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Here, in our third-last episode of the series, we take the time to analyse Cardinal Mazarin's motives. What kind of role did religious motivations, strategic motivations, political ...
2023-05-31 18:01:45 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
As the war raged, Maximilian of Bavaria was forced to reconsider his position towards his Emperor. As the Habsburgs' most faithful and important German ally since the beginning, the...
2023-05-18 11:59:37 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
By the end of 1646, two massive problems plagued the negotiators. For France, the matter was Alsace, a huge chunk of territory along the sensitive Rhine region, which had long serve...
2023-05-02 20:06:41 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
It's time to get all emotional, as we tie up the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish and Dutch, which had formed an integral part of the Thirty Years' War in its earlier phase, bu...
2023-04-19 16:19:08 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
How close did Britain and America really come to war in 1845-46, and if war was out of the question, why did matters get so anxious, and close to the abyss? Was it all bluster and b...
2023-04-17 05:05:59 +0000 UTC View Post