20th Century Facts & Events

Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge

Its effect was little in the rest of the world. Vietnam was the larger story at the time, and the horror of the Cambodian Killing Fields a sidenote in coverage.

Korean War; the war and its legacy

This is part 2 of the two part series on the Korean War. Thanks for listening.

The Korean War; the background

If you have listened before, you know how this goes. This episode looks at the history of the Korean peninsula and what happened leading up to the Korean War in 1950.

Civil War in Greece

We're following the trajectory of the Cold War; after the end of the very hot World War II, the beginning of the Cold War was playing out in countries and regions around the world, seemingly all at the same time. As usual, I found that I knew very little about happened in Greece during the late 1940s. Thanks for listening.

The Cold War begins

This is episode 2 talking about post-war Europe and the early days of the Cold War in Germany and specifically Berlin. Listen to the first episode for greater context and come back for more!

The Cold War; post war recovery

The Cold War - a long, drawn out conflict between competing ideologies and world views. We start to look at the years immediately following VE -Victory Europe. There are iconic images of sailors celebrating in New York, and soldiers kissing girls in the streets of London; but for much of Europe, it would take years to get to a point of celebration. Let's look at why... This is the first episode in this season and I will be continuing with this theme and how it played out in different theatres ar...

Nazi SS; war to the end

This episode has some disturbing descriptions. I began researching for this podcast about 2 1/2 years ago. I could not have imagined in 2021 that we would have witnessed the recent attack on Israel now. This episode seems like it might be poorly timed, but I think it is more important than ever to be aware of what the SS did to jewish people in Europe in World War II.

The Nazi SS; eugenics

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." If you have not listened to part 1 of this series, I recommend doing that first. The purpose of the series is to understand the police state that Nazi Germany became and to see the difference between the SS, the SA, the SD, the Ordnungs Polizei and the Gestapo, if there is a distinction. But it is not possible to view the perpetrators without eventually considering what they were responsible for. Eugenics is part of the puzzle that...

The Nazi SS; origins

We all know about World War 2, and the Holocaust. We have watched movies and have a picture of what happened. But in this episode, I wanted to explore the evolution of what happened, the logistics of who the Schutzstaffel men were. And to examine the differences between the SS, the SD, the Gestapo, etc. This episode sets up for the beginning of the war, which will be the continuation in episode 2. Thanks for listening.

The Partition of India - Pakistan; The Divide

Here it is! The finale - the culmination of the other three episodes where we have worked toward an understanding of where political forces stood in the mid-20th century. I start this episode after the 1936-7 elections in India under the Raj and end it 10 years later with Indian and Pakistan Independence. That decade packs a wallop for stuff happening. Primary characters in this episode are Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Mahatma Ghandi, Jawarhalal Nehru, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Sardar Patel if you want to...

The British Raj in India

After the Mutiny of 1857 by military personnel in the employ of the East India Company, the British Crown took over rule in India. It would last until Indian independence 90 years later. It was a long, rocky road to independence - have a listen to find out about what happened in the intervening years. One more episode to go after this one! Thanks for listening - send me an email at 20thcenturyfacts@gmail.com.

*extra* The rise of the East India company and the decline of the Mughal empire.

Episode 1 of the India-Pakistan partition was a quick introduction to centuries of Indian history, but I could not ignore all the details of just the 18th century. There was so much happening! Afghan invasions, Sikh reprisal on the Mughals, south India allegiances, multiple Mughal emperors, defiance against British expansionism, and all of that probably in the same year! I know that this episode is an indulgence on my part, but I think it will prompt you to learn more about India. Episode 3 will...

Partition of India - Pakistan: Part 1; An introduction to the history of India

You have to listen to this! In 1947, Britain effectively abandoned its responsibility to India after a few hundred years of pillaging the wealth from the Asian subcontinent. We'll get to that... But part of trying to understand the events of 1947, is laying a foundation of what had happened in India and surrounding areas in the previous centuries. This episode is an introduction to the rich history of India, albeit much abridged, but enough to help understand what happened later. Learn a little ...

The Spanish Civil War part II

In Episode 1 , I discussed the different players contributing to the rising tensions in the Spanish Republic in the years leading up to 1936. They were the same tensions that were growing across Europe during the years of the Great Depression and all of the instability that had come as a result of the poor economy, failing empires as well as growing communist and fascist movements. Listen now to how the military coup turned into a civil war and how Franco remained the ruler of Spain until the 19...

The Spanish Civil War part I

The civil war that ravaged Spain in the years leading up to World War II has been a footnote to the greater conflicts in Europe in the early 20th century. But it had much greater implications; in some ways it became an extension of the Russian civil war. It was a testing ground for the Nazi war machine, and it allowed Hitler to see how far he could push the boundaries with France, Britain and Russia, years before the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact or Chamberlain's infamous "peace in our time". The Span...

The Bosnian War: 1992 - 1995

If you have patiently listened to the first 2 episodes of this series, I hope you feel educated about the long history of this region. The previous hours have been a preparation to help explain what happened in the 1990s. Yugoslavia is breaking apart in 1991 and there is growing tension between the different Yugoslav republics. The politicians have started to prey on their citizens' worst fears about each other. Hundreds of thousands of people will have to live through the worst European war sin...

The Bosnia War; Part 2 the Background

This is the second of a 3 part series on the Bosnian War of the 1990s. Please join me as I delve into the relationship between the nations that make up the former Yugoslavia and give historical context for how those nations have been manipulated by other powers over the decades. This episode starts in the late 1800's with the results of the Great Eastern Crisis and ends 100 years later in the 1980s, just prior to where we will start episode 3 on what unfolded in the Balkans in the 1990s. Can we ...

The Bosnian War; Part 1 A History

In the late 20th century, as the Iron Curtain fell, the nations that made up the country of Yugoslavia began re-evaluating their relationship to one another and opening some old wounds. Bosnia, a nation within Yugoslavia, with a long, complex history became a continuation of the atrocities of World War II, with the rest of the world watching impotently. Part 1 of the series examines Bosnian history and how it relates to its neighbours.

Rwandan Genocide Part 2

In the early 1990s, the country of Rwanda jumped into the headlines with horrific images and details of what was to become known as the Rwandan Genocide. Part 1 of this podcast explored what happened in the years leading up to the 1994 genocide. With the help of great journalists and their books, we take a look a what genocide meant to individual Rwandans. Books: We have been informed that tomorrow we will be killed with our families - Philip Gourevitch Shake Hands with the Devil - Romeo Dallair...

Rwandan Genocide Part 1

In the early 1990s, the country of Rwanda jumped into the headlines with horrific images and details of what was to become known as the Rwandan Genocide. This is a walk through the years leading up to Rwanda’s civil war, and what precipitated the Rwandan Genocide. Maybe if we can learn from what happened there, it can be prevented in the future. Books: We have been informed that tomorrow we will be killed with our families - Philip Gourevitch Shake Hands with the Devil - Romeo Dallaire Dans le n...

20th Century Facts & Events (Trailer)