High School History Recap

This is the first episode in a series on the Holocaust. We have invited the experts at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre to come and speak with us on how a culture of hatred is created in society, and how this applies to Nazi Germany. Tali Nates introduces us to the Centre and provides us with some history of the Centre as well. Mduduzi Ntuli shows how identity formation gives rise to the concept of "othering," and how stereotypes and prejudices lay the foundation for hatred to develop. Tali shares stories about the Jews before World War II, and provides some insight into the Jewish population of South Africa. Catherine Boyd explains how hatred became "normalized" in Nazi society. We hope that history teachers and students will find this series meaningful because it is a sensitive part of the history curriculum. Please visit the Holocaust and Genocide Centre on twitter @JHGCentre or website https://jhbholocaust.co.za/.

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In this episode we discuss the causes and effects of the Russian Revolution of 1905. We look at the situation in Russia at the start of the 20th century, and how the rule of the last Romanov tsar, Nicholas II, contributed to the volatile situation in 1905. We talk about Father Gapon's march on the Winter Palace and the events that became known as Bloody Sunday. Was the 1905 Revolution a "dress rehearsal" for October 1917? Lenin thought so. We investigate if this is a true assertion. The 1905 Revolution surely laid the foundation for events to follow in February and October 1917. We've made use of the research of the historians Mark Steinberg and Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius @TheGreatCourses.

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In this episode, we discuss the Anti-war Movement and civil society protest in the US with Dr Christine Kelly. Christine lectures at Fordham University. She is a passionate historian who clearly articulates the complexities of civil society protest in 1950's and 1960's. She did her PhD dissertation on folk music and how it relates to second wave feminism. We investigate the impact of the Anti-war Movement on the Vietnam War. We learn that the Anti-war Movement were, in a sense, born out of other movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Liberation Movement, and the Student Movement. In fact, the Anti-war Movement can be seen as a culmination of a number of movements. We also look at some of the important personalities and events associated with the Anti-war Movement. You can contact Christine at [email protected].

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In this episode, we look at the embodiment of industrialization: the steam train. We recap some of the main features of the Industrial Revolution, and then turn our attention to how railways changed time, space and behaviour. We also investigate the significance of trains in South African history. To understand the symbolism of railways, one needs some background information on the mineral revolution in South Africa, as well as the associated migrant labour system that developed. We talk about the musical heritage around trains, e.g. Shosholoza and Hugh Masekela's Stimela. Sources used for this episode include: Wolfgang Schivelbush's Railway Journey, Crash Course Railroads, Percy Mabandu's article in New Frame, as well as that of Charles Leonard.

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In this #Short, Ross Nelson tells us more about guerrilla warfare in the Vietnam War.

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In this episode, Michael Cocks of History Skills joins us again to discuss source criticism. He shares a very valuable tool with us to help do source analysis: IOP CAM. First you consider the information in the source, then the origin, then the perspective, then the context, then the audience and lastly motive. Michael applies these skills to the stele (stone monument) of Egyptian pharaoh, Senusret III. We also look at source evaluation, i.e. to determine the usefulness and reliability of historical sources. We end of with another example: this time a photograph taken in no man's land at Gallipoli. Visit Michael's website History Skills for some excellent tailor-made history lessons.

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In this #Short, Justine Naude defines the historical concept of "serfdom."

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In this #Short, Ketsile Dikobe defines the concept "Communism."

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In this #Short, Lesedi Phosa defines the historical concept "monarchy" for us.

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In this #StudentSpecial, Babalo Ngoma shares her research on Lev (Leo) Tolstoy. This famous Russian writer wrote books such as "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina." We learn more about these works, but also look at the light his writing sheds on 19th century Russia. He once remarked that we are all born innocent, but that institutions corrupt us. He was quite critical of the institutions of serfdom and the Russian Orthodox Church. Babalo made use of several sources, but one we want to point out is Mark Steinberg @TheGreatCourses.   

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