History Reconsidered

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about Fascist Italy between the wars. Stepman and Maitra explain what "fascism" really was and how it relates to socialism and other ideologies.

They talk about Italy's attitude at the end of World War I and how Italian dictator Benito Mussolini gave the Italian people the notion of a return to Roman imperial greatness.

But was Italy really a "great power" in the lead up to World War II? Italy's economy would suggest that it was not. Yet, it's conquest of Ethiopia made a mockery of the League of Nations and shattered the illusory notion of collective security, driving the European continent to war.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the rise of Imperial Japan before World War II. They explain how an isolated, highly traditional Asian society rapidly modernized in the 19th century and rivaled the great powers of the West.

Maitra and Stepman explain Japan's larger strategy and how--despite efforts to Westernize--the nation eventually fell back into a military controlled form of government.

Was the confrontation between Japan and the United States in the Pacific War inevitable or was there another, better path Japan could have taken?

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the aftermath of World War I and its connection to World War II.

They talk about the view from Europe, a continent devastated by war, yet still powerful and the center of global affairs. The war had not only destroyed the lives of millions, it killed off several once-powerful empires too. In Russia, a revolution took place that would threaten civilization in the decades to come.

Perhaps more importantly, the United States found itself in a unique and new position. The country had long been one of the world's great powers, in many ways the greatest power, but had not involved itself so deeply in global affairs as it did in the Great War. What was the right path forward? How could the U.S. keep to its cherished ideals but ensure that another great war wouldn't take place? Wilson believed he had the answer.

Maitra and Stepman talk about the legacy of World War I, the worldview of Woodrow Wilson, and much more.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the conduct and strategy of the Civil War, for both the Union and the Confederacy. They then talk about the effects of the Civil War, the casualties and the psychological impact on the nation. Most estimates put the death total at 620,000, but some more recent analyses put the number much higher. It was the deadliest conflict in American history, with death totals nearly surpassing all other U.S. wars combined.

Maitra and Stepman also get into the international environment and how Northern and Southern leaders dealt with European powers as their armies clashed in the field.

Finally, they get into the long term impact of the Civil War on the generations that followed.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the causes of the American Civil War.

In modern America, it seems the Civil War is being relitigated now more than ever, with presidential candidates being asked: "What caused the Civil War?" The answer for many is to simply say "slavery." However, as Maitra and Stepman explain, looking at the war through the lens of slavery versus anti-slavery or racism versus antiracism fails to capture the complex nature of a drawn-out conflict that nearly ended the American republic.

Maitra and Stepman talk about the prolonged debates over slavery, the nature of the Constitution, and the attitudes of Americans on the eve of war.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the mutiny of 1857 in India that became one of the greatest crises the British Empire ever faced. They lay out the history of India as a region that had many precursor imperial powers like the Mughal Empire conquering and ruling long before the British Empire even existed.

Maitra and Stepman talk about how British colonialism in a sense created modern India from a region that was entirely divided and had no concept of a unified people. They also explain how British colonial rule appealed to many in India due to Britain's legal, cultural, and economic systems and how this history often gets left out in modern discussions about colonialism and "de-colonialism."

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the Barbary Wars. Following the Spanish Reconquista, North African Muslim states turned to piracy to enrich themselves. For four centuries they relied on a system of piracy, slavery, and exacting tribute from European powers.

The Barbary pirate states reached a high point in the 18th century, but were almost entirely snuffed out in the 19th century. Why?

Maitra and Stepman discuss the American and British perspective on the Barbary Wars as well as the potential lessons for modern conflicts with Somali pirates and Houthi terrorists plaguing the Red Sea.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the attempt by National Park Service to remove a William Penn Statue in front of his historic home in Philadelphia. Penn was the founder of the Pennsylvania colony. The move was rejected after it ignited a social media firestorm and political pushback. Is this a model for future efforts to stop the widespread iconoclasm in the West?

They talk about Stepman's 2019 book, "The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite the Past" and explain what the attempts to remove historical monuments are all about.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the Opium Wars. In this case, not just the 19th century struggle between Great Britain and China, but the modern conflict between China and the West.

The Opium Wars are often pointed out as examples of Western colonial rapaciousness. The Chinese Communist Party frequently points to the conflicts in propaganda to justify its actions against the West, especially the United States. Many now contend that the flow of illicit fentanyl from China to the U.S. is "payback."

However, as Maitra and Stepman explain, the wars were much more complicated than the simple, modern narrative of oppressor country versus oppressed. It was a conflict sparked by vast cultural and legal differences between Eastern and Western regimes as well as a fair amount of weakness and folly from the Chinese government under the Qing dynasty.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the Spanish Civil War, an important but largely misunderstood conflict that served as a precursor to both World War II and the Cold War.

Maitra and Stepman recount the origin of the conflict and talk about the unique ideological dynamic that made this civil war different from many others. They also delve into the increasing modern discussions about the meaning of the war and parallels to today. Finally, they get into debates on the Right about the legacy of Francisco Franco, the Spanish general who won the war and became the "Caudillo" of Spain.

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