History of the Second World War

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Tom Wardle. Tom's research focuses on memory activism and how the Spanish Civil War is remembered, and how that memory is fought over, in modern day Spain. When discussing history it can be easy to fall into just discussing Person A did thing B on date C, when in fact one of the most important aspects of history is not just what happened, but also what the effects of those events were, and how we today remember those events. Near the end of our discussions Tom mentions the award winning 2018 documentary The Silence of Others, which I recommend to anybody who wants to learn more about some of the subjects we discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Louis Dean Valencia. Our conversation covered several different topics, including the concept of alt/histories, or the purposeful misrepresentation of history to serve a specific, often political, purpose. This idea is in no way limited to the history of the Spanish Civil War, or the Second World War, but is a concept that can be found throughout history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Stephanie Wright. The author of “Glorious Brothers, Unsuitable Lovers: Moroccan Veterans, Spanish Women, and the Mechanisms of Francoist Paternalism.” We discussed the treatment of wounded war veterans in post-Civil War Spain and Morocco. We also discuss Dr. Wright's current research into sexual violence in Francoist Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I will be giving a talk at Intelligent Speech 2021 on April 24th. Register now to hear me talk about the Czech Legion, and excellent presentations from 40 other presenters. Use code: great in the cart for an extra 10% discountBuy here! https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/shop/= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Republican attacks were launched in the hope of forcing forces to be moved from the north to other areas of Spain. These two attacks, at Guadarrama and Huesca will be our first topic for this episode. However, the primary focus will be on the battle of Brunete. This attack would be launched in July 1937 by the Republican Army and it would achieve one of its goals of forcing the Nationalists to move troops away from their attacks in the north, even if it was in reality too late to halt the collapse of the enclave. The Republicans would commit their best troops, and most of their armor assets, to the attack at Brunete and the failure of the attack would begin a clear decline in the fighting capabilities of the Republican forces, from which they would never really recover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Stephen Rainbird. Stephen's research focuses on the political relationship between Spain, Britain, and Portugal in the years before and during the Second World War. Our conversation focused mostly on the reaction of British political leaders to the events in Spain that led up to the Civil War, and then some of the reasons that the British government chose the path that it did during the conflict. We also discuss the very important matter of piracy in the Mediterranean during the war, where the pirates somehow got ahold of Italian submarines, spoke Italian, and were getting paid by the Italian government, weird situation really. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the opening battles of the Civil War, behind the front the political maneuverings would continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-scots-and-the-spanish-civil-war.htmlOn this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Fraser Raeburn. This interview continues our series of regional specific discussions, in this case about Scotland and how people in Scotland reacted to the Spanish Civil War, why some of them chose to go to Spain to fight in the International Brigades, and the humanitarian efforts that originated in Scotland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Dr. Charles Esdaile. Unlike some of the other interviews I have done for this series, this interview focuses very heavily on the military side of the conflict. At the end of the day the Spanish Civil War was a military conflict, and the military side of the story does deserve some attention. One of the interesting items that we discussed was how a seemingly small decision, how military units were organized, could have consequences that caused issues for the Republicans even outside the military theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the failure to take Madrid, the Nationalist shift their focus, and in their sights is the Republican Enclave in northern Spain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices