Explaining History

By the start of the blitz Britain didn't have enough anti aircraft guns, despite half a decade anticipating mass bombing as a means of war. Germany was ill prepared for the bombing of British cities as well, with its slow, light bomber lacking the speed or the payload to be able to devastate Britain in the way allied airforces would later destroy Germany. *****STOP PRESS***** I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here [https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tharta-Fire-Heart-Knowing-ebook/dp/B0F25DSFNP]: HELP THE PODCAST TO CONTINUE BRINGING YOU HISTORY EACH WEEK If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways: If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership [https://plus.acast.com/s/55836c0e-56ef-4a51-a7cc-9055cd2a39c7] here Or You can support the podcast via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory]here Or you can just say some nice things about it here [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/explaining-history/id583707171] Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory [https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What was it like to experience the end of the Second World War in London, 80 years ago today? We read David Kynaston's Austerity Britain to find out how housewives, politicians, writers and diarists experienced the end of six years of terrible conflict and what this meant to them. *****STOP PRESS***** I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here [https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tharta-Fire-Heart-Knowing-ebook/dp/B0F25DSFNP]: HELP THE PODCAST TO CONTINUE BRINGING YOU HISTORY EACH WEEK If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways: If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership [https://plus.acast.com/s/55836c0e-56ef-4a51-a7cc-9055cd2a39c7] here Or You can support the podcast via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory]here Or you can just say some nice things about it here [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/explaining-history/id583707171] Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory [https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

At the height of the Third Reich's war production there were nearly five million additional German and foreign workers in the war economy. Despite the efforts made by Albert Speer to rationalise the war economy and make it more efficient, there was still too few workers to compete with the combined military production of the allied powers. Workers from Germany, from occupied western countries and from allied countries like Italy and Hungary were recruited though non German workers were paid less and treated badly. The poverty and ill health of Polish workers and Russian POWs meant that heavy labour tasks were impossible, only 5% of the Russian POWs were fit for any kind of work at all. *****STOP PRESS***** I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here [https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tharta-Fire-Heart-Knowing-ebook/dp/B0F25DSFNP]: HELP THE PODCAST TO CONTINUE BRINGING YOU HISTORY EACH WEEK If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways: If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership [https://plus.acast.com/s/55836c0e-56ef-4a51-a7cc-9055cd2a39c7] here Or You can support the podcast via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory]here Or you can just say some nice things about it here [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/explaining-history/id583707171] Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory [https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What did the good life look like in 1945? Or more to the point, what did the good life look like to white working and middle class inner city families? The answer for many was suburbia, new out-of-town developments accessed by America's millions of new car owners who longed for space and who could be assured that people of their social, racial and often religious backgrounds would be their neighbours. Suburbia was initially intended by New Dealers to be a post war egalitarian dream for all, but property markets and prejudices ensured that this did not transpire. *****STOP PRESS***** I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here [https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tharta-Fire-Heart-Knowing-ebook/dp/B0F25DSFNP]: HELP THE PODCAST TO CONTINUE BRINGING YOU HISTORY EACH WEEK If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways: If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership [https://plus.acast.com/s/55836c0e-56ef-4a51-a7cc-9055cd2a39c7] here Or You can support the podcast via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory]here Or you can just say some nice things about it here [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/explaining-history/id583707171] Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory [https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

In the first weeks of the outbreak of the First World War, the outdated Schlieffen Plan required the German Army to rapidly cross Belgium to attack northern France. Instead of the anticipated 6-8,000 troops, the Belgians fielded 32,000 men and defended the fortress town of Liege vigorously. German atrocities in Liege afterwards were the product of an imagined belief in guerrilla fighters amongst the civilian population. *****STOP PRESS***** I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here [https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tharta-Fire-Heart-Knowing-ebook/dp/B0F25DSFNP]: HELP THE PODCAST TO CONTINUE BRINGING YOU HISTORY EACH WEEK If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways: If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership [https://plus.acast.com/s/55836c0e-56ef-4a51-a7cc-9055cd2a39c7] here Or You can support the podcast via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory]here Or you can just say some nice things about it here [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/explaining-history/id583707171] Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory [https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.