Why We Fight

In his presidential farewell address Dwight Eisenhower warned about the 'Military Industrial Complex' a defence establishment and a vast arms industry colluding and undermining democracy. This Storyville documentary charts the growth of this complex from WWII to the present day.

The Tet Offensive

Here are some fascinating documentary pictures of the Tet Offensive 1968, the North Vietnamese Assault on South Vietnam. It was these pictures that convinced much of America that the Vietnam War could not be won.

The rights and wrongs of bombing

World War Two was the first war that was decided primarily by air power. When Louis Bleriot completed his first flight of the channel he was asked by a journalist exactly what this new contraption, the aeroplane would be primarily used for. He answered succinctly.
"La Guerre." War.
Aerial bombing was often found to be ineffective, inaccurate and sometimes caused more problems than it solved. This little bit of footage of the battle of Montecassino demonstrates how air power was useful to the allies, but also how it often caused as many problems as it solved. Also, ask yourselves this, was mass bombing ever justified, given that so many civilians were killed at places such as Montecassino, Dresden or Hiroshima?

Sidney Poitier

In the mid 1960s one actor came to represent the struggle for civil rights, fair treatment and justice more than any other. That actor was Sidney Poitier and he chose a number of film roles to emphasise the struggle. He starred in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, the story of a black man who falls in love with a white girl and what happens when he meets her family. In the film he is the eponymous guest at dinner and inter racial farce ensues. The film did have a serious point however, the films shows us that the time when ones parents, or ones society can tell you who to love and why is long since gone. The other iconic films that he is most remembered for is In The Heat of the Night and the Defiant Ones. The first two films were released in 1967 the latter a decade earlier in 1958, in In The Heat of the Night, he plays black homicide detective Virgil Tibbs, home to see his mother in the rural south. He is arrested on general principles when a rich white man is found dead, and Tibbs' being Black is enough reason. When his identity is established, his boss offers his services to the small town sheriff who has little experience with murder investigations. As the two policemen learn how to work together, they begin to make progress on the crime. He was one of the first ever black male lead heroes in a movie, and having a white sidekick at the time was nothing short of extraordinary. In The Defiant Ones, it's a similar plot except on the other side of the law. White Joker Jackson and black Noah Cullen are two convicts on a chain gang who hate each other. After a truck prison accident, they flee and are pursued by the police. While they're chained, the two are dependent on one another. When they eventually get rid of their chains, their hostility has been changed into fellowship and respect. It is very difficult to overestimate the importance of Sidney Poitier, largely for the reason that when he portrayed 'blackness' to a white audience, he did it with a dignity and strength that they were unlikely to have seen before, most other black entertainers would have been portrayed rather more like this

In America with Matt Frei

The BBC's Washington Correspondent Matt Frei has recorded a series of programmes for Radio 4 about contemporary American culture, society and politics. Each touch upon themes that run throughout our study of America, its racial tensions, presidents, foreign policy etc. Listen to these recordings, they will give you additional insights into America and its past.

BBC WWII Archive

This is an archive by the BBC called People's War, it's a vast treasure trove of personal recollections and memories of every aspect of the war for the British people. People's histories are a very popular way of recounting the past, ensuring that we don't see history as the actions of 'great men' but the struggles of millions of largely anonymous people like us, it reminds us that history is made by the many not the few and that we can make it for good or for ill.

Quiz

You can also test yourself here online about American History with a flash cards quiz.

Vietnam

Getting ahead of myself slightly here, but this is for the Vietnam War which we will be studying in a few weeks. Because America is an outline study, we can only go into so much depth on the subject, but the kind, if slightly naive folks at Spark Notes have left this veritable treasure trove of notes online for you to peruse. Read the full course of the Vietnam War here

The Lego Battle of Stalingrad

a must watch

Propaganda

Here is an example of how the British and American Allies in WWI created propagandafilms to demonise their enemy. If you've watched The Century Of The Self video, you'll have already heard about Edward Bernays, the father of modern advertising. Bernays learnt the art of persuasion through film and billboard poster during World War One, persuading a largely pacifist American public to join the war. He later turned these skills to good use advertising the products of the post war American boom. In a way, a propaganda film and an advertisement are quite similar, their job is to persuade you to think in a particular way. Watch this clip and then compare it with an advert on TV, todays ads are far more subtle, and are trying to convince you to act in a different way, but both are part of the 20th Century science of public relations, the control of the public mind.

The Century Of The Self

Year 11 History Pupils doing America now really should watch this documentary, it's one of the most astute and fascinating programmes ever made on the ideas that created early 20th Century America, it's a real education.

Democracy and its frailties

This is a very thought provoking article about democracy in Britain today but it is also important to us as history students because it draws parallels with the 1930s, showing that many of the popular anxieties that existed then are still with us, if only in slightly different guises.

A fascinating Russia resource

Check out Orlando Figes Website, it is an excellent resource that gives a broad synoptic picture to 'what happened next', after we finish with Russia in 1924, one of mankind's darkest chapters began, the rule of Stalin and his purges. The question we'll be addressing at the end of the Russia topic is 'did Lenin's rule innevitably lead to Stalin's?' opnions, as ever, are divided, look at this and see what you think.

Further Reading on Rasputin

For anyone who would like to know more about the infamous holy man and look at his strange rise to power look at this link here. Remember though, most of Rasputin's life is mired in mystery and rumour, no one really knows the full truth about him so when you are reading about him, always be questioning how reliable your source really is.

Does racism still affect America?

Well I guess this is rather a silly question, there is probably no society on earth where human beings don't discriminate against one another on the grounds of 'difference'. Former US President Jimmy Carter recently criticised Barack Obama's opponents suggesting that they were targeting him because he was America's first black president, does this mean the legacy of slavery and segregation still live on? Read here and decide for yourself

Did Trotsky have a point?

Here is an extract of Trotsky's report on the 1905 Revolution. The first conclusion he makes about it is that it destroys the Pan Slavist, Muscovite myth that Russia is fundamentally different from the rest of Europe. In his book 1905 he wrote

"Our revolution destroyed the myth of the “uniqueness” of Russia. It demonstrated that history does not have special laws for Russia. Yet at the same time the Russian revolution bore a character wholly peculiar to itself, a character which was the outcome of the special features of our entire social and historical development and which, in turn, opened entirely new historical perspectives before us."

He is referring directly about the Czar's myth that Russia had a seperate and different destiny from the rest of Europe, that modernisation was not possible or desirable. In one way or another modernity would come to Russia, either by gradual reform or a revolution, both of which were modern concepts. Read more here

Welcome to the history blog

Hi there, and if you've found this site it must mean that lesson time hasn't been too dull this week. This is a bit of an experiment, I'm piloting it to see how well it works and then hopefully I can add to it on a more substantial site later, but first things first.
Anyway, each week I will post things on this site that relate to Year 9, 10 and 11 history for the WJEC syllabus. I come across so many handy bits of information, sites, links, news stories, features and other odds and ends that I can never fit all of it into lesson times, so for the really keen students, or those who just want to explore more to do with history, this is a place you can find out more.