History Off the Page

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From Indiana Jones, to Captain America to Hellboy, the theme of Nazis and the Occult has long fascinated Hollywood.  But is there any truth behind these fictional representations? This partial Patreon preview explores the bizarre world of late 19th/early 20th century occultism, elucidating its tangential links to the birth and development of the Nazi Party.  As we'll see, Hitler was not "nuts" about the...

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In Nov 1918, Germans set out on a radical experiment: the building of a new, fully democratic state known as the Weimar Republic.  Unfortunately, of course, it didn't last.  But the question remains why?  And what should this tell us about the strength of our own democracies?

This episode explores the foundation of the Weimar Republic, discussing some of its early successes and failures.  It highlights some of the...

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At the time of its foundation in early 1919, the Nazi Party was a group of several dozen dilettantes who at first glance appeared to stand little chance of changing history.  And yet, by 1923 it had grown to over 50K members - enough to convince Hitler that they could seize control of Bavaria.  This episode explores the secrets to the Nazi Party's success, showing how they built a politically effective, modern ma...

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Adolf Hitler is one of the most notorious villains of history. But how did he become HITLER? This partial preview episode documents his early history, from his boyhood in Linz to his Bohemian wandering in Vienna to his exploits during the First World War. It tracks the origins of his political philosophy, showing how much of his political and anti-Semitic wakening occurred only after the Great War, when he participate...

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There are many places one could start a history of Nazi Germany, but we begin our series with the experience of the First World War.  From the heady August days when Germans were flush with the joy of expectant victory to war and revolution in 1918, the war refashioned and brutalized German politics.  Old authorities like the monarchy were discarded, to be replaced by a more wholesome form of politics that centered on...

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This episode - the first of 12 on the history of Nazi Germany - begins by asking the question if Nazis still matter in an age when so much of the post-World War II consensus (global institutions, free trade, collective defense) is being abandoned?  It highlights the role played in this process by figures such as Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and the Alternativ fur Deutschland Party (AFD), who along with social media are r...

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 Continuing our discussion of the 1967 Six-Day War, this episode discusses the outbreak of hostilities with Israeli Operation Focus on 5 June 1967. In addition to covering some operational details, we also sketch out the rest of the history of the war, including discussions of Egyptian and Israeli war planning and the evolution of events on the battlefield(s). The episode concludes with an epilogue about the way the w...

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In June 1967, tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors once again led to the outbreak of war.  This episodes examines the causes of the renewed violence, ranging from long term factors such as Nasser's Arab nationalism and the lack of a solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis to shorter term issues such as the evolution of regional politics, fights over water usage and Israeli reprisal attacks.  Topics c...

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On the afternoon of October 29, 1856, Israeli forces launched a surprise attack into the Sinai peninsula, part of a coordinated plan with Britain and France for the European powers to retake possession of the Suez canal.  This episode covers the course of the war, as well as its legacy.  Topics covered include: the Cold War context and the run-up to war, British, French, Israeli and Egyptian strategic planning, global...

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After eight years of a tense peace, war came suddenly again to the Middle East in October 1956.  This episode answers why, exploring the deeper history behind the building of the Suez Canal from 1859-69, the origins of British colonialism in the region and the rise of various anti-colonial Egyptian movements such as Wafd and the Muslim Brotherhood.  We also go into detail about the meteoric rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser,...

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By the late summer of 1949, the frozen battle lines between the Arab and Israeli armies led to the realization that Palestinian refugees would not soon be returning to their former homes.  This episode charts the fascinating and tragic story of the international response to the refugee crisis from 1949 to the mid-50s, including the creation of UNRWA in Dec. 1949.  In particular, it shows how UN thinkers approached the...

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In 1948 the Nakbah resulted in the flight and expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians. This episode chronicles their experiences, focusing on the way the refugee crisis unfolded in three geographical contexts: Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. Among other things, it highlights some of the initial challenges and reactions encountered in trying provide humanitarian assistance to them, the effects the refugees had on the loc...

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In 1948, Palestinians suffered both dispossession and expulsion as a result of losing the civil war. But what became of the idea of the Palestinian nation? This episode explores the political and cultural fate of Palestinian nationalism in the 1950s, highlighting how and why in the postwar period Arab-controlled territory did not become an independent Palestinian state. At the same time, it also explores the ways in w...

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In the second half of our installment on the building of the Israeli national community in the late 1940s and 1950s, we examine how Israelis paid for the massive expenses involved in resettling so many European and Middle Eastern Jews in the immediate aftermath of independence. We also discuss the fate of Palestinians living inside the new Israeli state, highlighting the discrimination they faced as outsiders in the J...

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In this episode we return to the history of Israel/Palestine, looking at how Israelis built a national community in the late 1940s and early 1950s. As we'll see, this project was neither as straightforward nor as easy as Zionist ideology supposed, complicated by the influx of hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from both Europe and the Middle East in the late 1940s/early 1950s. The first part of the episode ...

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This episodes recounts the downfall of the Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini.  Topics covered include his initial dismissal in July 1943 (9:01), the 46 days (35:13), the German plot to rescue and restore him (43:40) and the Republic of Salo and the partisan civil war (50:15).  The episode concludes with some final reflections on the failures of fascism (1:04:46).

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This episodes examines the history of the Italian military under Benito Mussolini, shedding light on its oft-ignored contributions to the Axis war machine.  Among other things, it highlights the role Mussolini played in resisting Hitler before 1935 (11:00), a discussion of Italian colonialism (19:25), the fateful 1935 invasion of Ethiopia (29:07), the Italian role in World War II (53:12), the invasion of Egypt (1:03:5...

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 After being named Prime Minister in Oct 1922, Mussolini and the PNF's political prospects were bright. But they had not yet built a dictatorship. This episode examines how Mussolini dismantled Italian democracy once in power, highlighting some of the key cultural strategies the PNF used to amass power. Jump links:

 Intro (0:51)

How to Build a Dictatorship (3:41)

The Initial Fascist Government (15:33) 

Rela...

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On the morning of May 15, 1948, Israel declared its official independence; simultaneously several neighboring Arab states launched an invasion designed to prevent the new state from coming into being. This episode explores the contours of the war, revealing why Israel emerged victorious.  It also points out the consequences that followed for all sides, including the refugee crisis. Finally, the episode also highlight ...