Explaining History

This is the second in our two part interview special with historian David Barrett, whose new book 140 Days to Hiroshima examines the decision making regarding the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This time we examine the factionalism within the Japanese wartime leadership, the impact of the second atomic bomb on the regime's decision making and the role of Emperor Hirohito.

You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/140-Days-Hiroshima-Untold-Surrender/dp/1635765811.

There are further reviews of the book here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-dean-barrett/140-days-to-hiroshima/, and you can read David's further writings on Hiroshima at the History News Network here: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174871.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1930s, Ronald Reagan had been a Roosevelt Democrat supporter and had believed that the role of government in alleviating the crisis of the Great Depression was vital. By the early 1950s, Reagan, a failing actor was moving to the political right and had embraced the Hayekian obsession with reducing the size of the state. As a spokesman for the company GE he toured the USA, speaking to working class Americans who shared his views and in doing so, he prepared for his later political career.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America's war in the Pacific had begun with Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and within six months the US Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on Japan at the Battle of Midway. American admirals and aviators learned the rules of naval warfare quickly, despite the fact that Japan initially outclassed America in naval warfare and aviation.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1930s the deteriorating world situation presented all major political parties in Britain with profound dilemmas, whether to back pacifism, collective security or appeasement. The peripheral British Union of Fascists advocated peace with Nazi Germany in order to allow Hitler to wage his war against Europe's Jews.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1942 Heinrich Himmler appointed a new administrator to the head of his concentration camp network, Oswald Pohl. Pohl saw the key to his personal advancement the utilisation of slave labour for arms manufacture. By late 1942 and in early 1943 it was clear that the tide of war was turning against Germany and Pohl believed that the brutal extraction of work from prisoners could contribute to victory.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By 1935 the Soviet regime appeared to relax its stance towards citizens deemed to be class enemies and their children. Stalin said: "A son does not answer for the father." However, persecution of former Kulaks and former members of the Tsarist order continued regardless, as many Soviet employers or teachers did not wish to appear lenient towards 'social aliens' in case the political mood changed and they were accused of anti Soviet sympathies.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This special episode of the Explaining History Podcast features historian David Barrett, whose new book 140 Days to Hiroshima examines the decision making regarding the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This is the first of two interviews with David and it explores the decisions by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Truman to use the bomb instead of an amphibious landing in the Japanese home islands.

You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/140-Days-Hiroshima-Untold-Surrender/dp/1635765811.

There are further reviews of the book here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-dean-barrett/140-days-to-hiroshima/, and you can read David's further writings on Hiroshima at the History News Network here: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174871.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late 1970s, as Britain, America and other wealthy countries were developing free market solutions to the problems of inflation and low growth, China selected aspects of capitalism to incorporate into its economy, while maintaining the fiction that it was a communist society. This podcast explores how China transformed the world economy in the 1980s as a result.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By 1949 the development of a communist state in China radically changed the fortunes of France in Vietnam, a shift in dynamics that made the war for France virtually un-winnable. In 1950, a well armed Democratic Republic of Vietnam Army inflicted devastating losses on the French along the Chinese border, supported by Chinese supplies and training.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By the summer of 1942 the Japanese military was drunk on the victories it had achieved in the previous six months of war. It had over run Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Indochina, and it had dealt America a huge blow at Pearl Harbour and had seized the American protectorate of the Philippines. It was precisely this arrogance and risk taking that would result in a series of naval disasters and defeats in the summer of 1942, starting with setbacks at the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.