Historically High

At a certain point in human history, mundane spices like pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, the stuff you have shoved in the back of your cabinet right now, made one company so much money it is still considered one of the valuable to ever exist. Not only were they extremely successful at running spice, they almost served as a country unto themselves. The Dutch government had granted the VOC (the acronym for the company in its native Dutch and so much easier to type) a monopoly on the spice trade from the Indies for 21 years. Combine that with permission to establish new colonies or outposts, dispense its own justice, make treaties with other rulers or governments, and operate its own Navy and soldiers. The VOC was a nation in more ways than some actual nations were. Other advantages the VOC had in ship building, it includes windmills, and the ability to raise capital with the advent of the stock exchange. The creation of shares in voyages would make its way to New Amsterdam in North America, soon to become New York City, you know, where the New York Stock Exchange is....seeing the connection here. Any way you slice it the VOC was huge, but as always, success does not come without a cost and boy did a lotta people pay for it. If you're still reading you can stop now and start the episode. 

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The 1848 discovery of gold in California didn't just change the lives of those that rushed across the country to strike it rich. It also shaped the development of the early United States in a big way. California being the 31st state in the union may seen kinda odd being that's its about as far west as you can get and there's a lotta area in between. Well that's all thanks to the thousands and thousands of people who braved the California Trail or the sea voyage around South America for months heading west to seek their fortunes. A majority never struck pay dirt in the Golden State but those 49er's and also a pretty sizable group of international gold seekers set down roots to establish the unique culture of the San Francisco area. It's not all sunshine and nuggets though, when you get a ton of people all rushing to one area to fight for wealth it's gonna get messy. All that and more on this week's exciting episode of Historically High. 

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When you think of World War 2, France is usually not one of the first countries you think about. That's partly because they spent a good majority of the war under occupation. Moreso the newly formed Vichy Government agreed to an armistice with the Germans putting them under occupation. There was one man who didn't surrender. That man became Free France, Charles De Gaulle. The veteran of World Wars 1 and 2 called upon himself to lead a country under occupation. De Gaulle was known for having a very high opinion of himself and his country. When no one else stepped up for France, De Gaulle stood up for France. During World War 1, World War 2, reconstruction of Europe, a potential French Civil War, and a student revolt, Charles stepped up. No matter how big of a pain De Gaulle was to the rest of the Allied leadership, he was crucial to the fight against the Germans. His love for France knew no bounds. Whether on the field of battle or the battle within the government. Join us as we get Historically High on Charles De Gaulle

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In the course of human history wars have been waged primarily over two things, land and religion. Sometimes for both of those reasons at the same time. Sometimes you do it 8 times. The Crusades are the best example of using the "will of god" as an excuse to do what the Europeans did best, conquer and kill. The Church (you know the one) decreed the man up stairs wanted Jerusalem and the Holy Land back and lo and behold, if you went and fought you would be absolved of all your sins. Now for the ruling classes of Europe who were pretty much sin factories, this was music to their ears. Now coincidentally this whole reclamation of one of JC's hangouts also happened to bring the crusader armies through the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines were kinda like the Holy Roman Empire's hot ex who they fucked it up with and wanted them back. The Pope thought if they could help them out with the issues they were having on their borders with the Islamic peoples in the Middle East, maybe they would see how the H.R.E. had grown and matured and come back to them, and by come back, I mean start sending their money. And thus the Crusades, an almost 200 year mission for christianity to take back their shit when they really didn't have the shit to begin with. This one has it all folks. More Popes that you can shake his pope stick thing at, kings, knights, castles, battles, severe dysentary, friendship, betrayal. Why are you still reading this? Stop, just hit play. 

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A major if not the most important key to victory in World War 2 Europe was the Allied Bombing Campaign against Nazi Germany. World War 2 wasn't just a collections of campaigns fought in different theaters but also campaigns specific to the land, sea, and air. After WW1 introduced the concept of air power, the end of the conflict saw every country invest into this new frontier of war to varying degrees. Pre-WW2 saw most major powers developing bomber aircraft to extend their projection of power and hit the enemy far behind their lines, and fighter aircraft to shoot down the bombers. WW2 in Europe saw the first occurrences of terror and strategic bombing. Hundreds of planes dropping thousands of tons of explosive on cities in a single day attempting to destroy enemy resources and moral. To be a bomber pilot or crew you had to have smarts, skills, and frankly balls because you had a 50% chance of being killed when this was said and done. These men (some in their teens) in their Boeing Flying Fortresses and Avro Lancasters kept the allies in the war until it could be won on the ground. Almost a full 5 years before the allies set foot in France, the bomber aircrews of the British Bomber Command and soon after the U.S. Air Force flew missions over France and Germany to keep the pressure on the Nazis and prevent them from solidifying their hold. Flying miles above occupied Europe without fighters to protect them, the bomber crews of the allies were constantly under attack by enemy explosive shells (Flak) from the ground or the deadly Germany fighters strafing them at double their speed. Okay I'm rambling, sorry I love this shit and I hope you will too, hit play already.

Prof Chris.

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In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the fight against communism was in full swing. The CIA was deep into the politics of Central America, having already assisted some dictator-ish guys staying in power. The U.S. felt like it couldn't lose when it decided to "intervene". America was friendly with the current regime of Cuba, and it probably had nothing to do with all of the American corporations controlling most of Cuban industry. When Fidel Castro came into power as a result of one of the many Cuban revolutions, the U.S. was panicking because we didn't know which way he was leaning, Capitalist or Communist. With Cuba only being 90 miles from Florida, this was a cause for concern (not at all escalated by the Nukes we put in Turkey aimed at Russia). When the U.S. botched the first interactions with Fidel and issued economic sanctions, to be fair he seized a bunch of American corporation property in Cuba, he decided to just get what he needed from Russia, and boy were they excited, a communist friendly country 90 miles from the United States, oh the possibilities. Well because of this Uncle Sam decided Fidel had to go, so you do what any rational government would do. You find a bunch of exiled Cubans, train them as guerrilla fighters, teach them to pilot WW2 era bombers, secure them ships, and supply them with everything they need to invade Cuba and start a revolution to topple Castro. Can't miss plan...right?. Yeah not so much, find out how the JFK and the braintrust at the CIA oversaw one of the most embarrassing failures in recent history. 

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When you're considered the world's oldest fraternal order and one of the oldest continuous organizations in history, you're probably gonna develop some secrets or at the very least the suspicion that you're hiding something. Enter the Freemasons. The Freemason origin is kind of like a choose your own adventure book where there's an option for all, depending on what you're into. You can go the biblical route, the conspiratorial route, or the one that just makes common sense. Regardless, Masonic Lodges exist in nearly every country on the planet. Their use of symbols alone is enough to drive any conspiracy theorist mad, not to mention the use of code words, secret handshakes, and the rituals. Some of the most influential men (it's a fraternal order so it's all dudes...mostly) have been known Freemasons. 8 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 of the 39 to sign the Constitution, 14 U.S. Presidents, Churchill, Mozart, Mark Twain, Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford just to name a few. I mean with a roster like that there's gotta be something going on with these guys right? Why does the Catholic Church have a papal ban against them? Tune in as we attempt to unravel the mystery that is the Freemasons. 

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Mussolini has a general reputation as the bumbling idiot of the axis powers. While he does appear to be at a glance, history should not sleep on Mussolini. The man actually founded Facism. That word that seems to still be prevalent in our world today, yeah he created the Facist Party. The Father of Facism started from humble beginnings and through a combination of radical ideas, his trademark oration, and basically flip flopping political beliefs whenever he felt the wind blowing in a new direction, he found himself as the de facto dictator of Italy. Now this whole Facism thing actually started before the Nazi party got into power, and provided a solid blueprint for Hitler to follow during his rise. Without Benito, I don't think we get Hitler running wild all over Europe. Now from a military standpoint, yeah maybe the bumbling idiot moniker is more fitting, but we get to that and everything else on this weeks Historically High. 

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Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. At only 109 acres, it packs a ton of history in a small space. The Catholic Church is headquartered within their own nation. Vatican City proper was created through a Treaty signed by Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI establishing the sovereign nation in 1929. Some of the world's most beautiful buildings reside inside the walls of the tiny nation. Some of those buildings are packed with works of art from everywhere the church touches. Others may be packed with secrets that will never see the light of day. Join us today as we explore the history, architecture,  and more than a few secrets while getting Historically High on Vatican City. 

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In December 1944 World War 2 in Europe was at a tipping point. It just so happened the way it was leaning was for the Allies. The Eastern front saw the Russians forcing the Nazis out of Poland and advancing toward the Fatherland itself. In the west the combined Anglo-American forces of the USA, Great Britain, Canada and others had broken out from Normandy, liberated Paris and a good chunk of northern France. The advance from the west was slowed by supply issues when the troops in front started to outrun their supply lines. Hitler decided in his meth'd up mind that all it would take was one big swing and hit to stagger the Allies and bring them to the table for a negotiated armistice at which point he could turn all his attention back to Stalin. That big swing was called Operation Watch on the Rhine, or the Ardennes Offensive or to most The Battle of the Bulge. Unfortunately for the allies, the area ol Adolf was gonna send his mass of soldiers and tanks through just happened to be the spot the allies thought unlikely. So much so in fact this was the place they pulled battle weary units and green replacement troops to rest and acclimate to their new units. What occurred over the next few weeks would come to be the shining moment for the United States forces in Europe during the war. 

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