Rwandan Genocide Part 1

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.

1 Okt 202347min

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 look any of them up. Thanks for listening - drop me a line at 20thcenturyfacts@gmail.com. Greg

15 Apr 20211h 11min

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.

1 Mar 202155min

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 definitely move ahead from the Mutiny of 1857, which is where the first part ended. Thanks for listening.  Email me at 20thcenturyfacts@gmail.com to let me know what you think.

1 Feb 202152min

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 bit about the empires that came before the British, the Mughals, the Marathas. There will be more coverage in the next episode in this series.  If you know as little as I did when I began, this will be eye opening and may alter any impressions that you had of India before listening. You can always let me know what you think at 20thcenturyfacts@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Greg

1 Jan 202155min

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 1970s.

22 Jul 202055min

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 Spanish Civil War was a harbinger of things to come. We should all pay close attention because tensions that exist now have a lot of similarities to what Spain was dealing with close to 100 years ago. Enjoy part 1.

7 Jun 202053min

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 since the end of World War II. And international diplomacy will be challenged to rise to the call, and fail over and over again. It is in Bosnia that we will learn the term 'ethnic cleansing' and relearn the word genocide, and learn that despite the promise to never let that happen again, when put to the test, we are more than willing to watch from the sidelines.

26 Mar 20201h 17min