Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i History Extra

Why do people fight? Throughout history, armies have waged war for a wide variety of reasons: the need for security, the hunger for territory, the drive of ideology and the dream of glory. Sometimes, though, it’s all about the money. In this month’s cover feature, popular historian Dan Jones revisits the era of the crusades to consider whether the medieval holy warriors were motivated more by God or gold. You’ll find his article on page 20. The power of money is something we also need to factor in when considering the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany. Despite their ruthlessness, Hitler’s National Socialists did not seize control unaided, and owed much of their success to allies among the country’s wealthy conservative elite. To explore this story, I interviewed Dr…

Rarely have Twitter historians quite so unanimously agreed. When The Economist (@TheEconomist) recently tweeted a link to an article by its ‘Bagehot’ columnist with the statement “Historians are isolated in professional cocoons, fiddling with footnotes rather than bringing the past to light for a broader audience”, the gloves were off. Cue a cacophony of tweets: some like that of history teacher Sara Sinaguglia (@SaraSinaguglia) asserting it was “simply not true”, with others far fiercer – and cruder – in their criticisms. Indeed, it was perhaps the case that many of the historians who took exception to the article didn’t actually read beyond the headline. Those who did, however, offered some valuable critiques, such as the long and widely applauded thread by Robert Saunders (@redhistorian) who began by acknowledging that, while…

Next summer, the torch relay of the Tokyo Olympics will make its way across the archipelago of Japan. One of the places the Olympic cavalcade will stop at is a new museum in Shiraoi on Hokkaido, the most northerly of the four main Japanese islands. The National Ainu Museum has been established to celebrate a history that the Japanese have kept hidden for almost 150 years. The people we think of as the Japanese, the Wajin, are not and have never been the only ethnic group living in Japan. Hokkaido is the traditional home to a forgotten people: the Ainu, who have their own distinct language, religion, diet, dress and way of life. They are also a people who have faced an overlooked history of repression. In the 19th century,…

THE CATHOLIC FIXER Franz von Papen (1879–1969) From a Catholic landowning family, von Papen held senior posts during the First World War. He served in the Reichstag from 1921 as a member of a Catholic political party, and was appointed chancellor in 1932 during the dying days of Weimar. He was later instrumental in persuading Paul von Hindenburg to make Hitler chancellor. Von Papen continued to hold senior positions during the Third Reich, spending most of the Second World War as ambassador to Turkey. He was acquitted at the Nuremberg trials. THE RABID ANTI-COMMUNIST Alfred Hugenberg (1865–1951) Hugenberg was a major player in the German media during the Weimar years, and became leader of the rightwing German National People’s party in 1928. A staunch opponent of communism, socialism and the…

Sarah Callanan Current job: Senior policy advisor Studied: BA History & MA History of International Relations, LSE I’ve been a policy advisor at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for almost nine years. Primarily, my job is to develop policy proposals and advice for ministers, and in my career I’ve been lucky enough to work in a range of areas, including planning, housing and public service transformation. I’ve always been fascinated by the causes and reasons behind things, and love to catch a glimpse of the past. Studying history helped hone my ability to assess vast quantities of often incomplete information, weigh it up and use it to construct arguments. I use these critical and analytical skills every day of my working life. Victoria Ribbans Current job: Deputy…

The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II by Helen Fry Yale, 336 pages, £18.99 There should be a ban on books claiming to tell the ‘greatest’ anything related to the Second World War. Having read this book, however, I suspect that the title was not the author’s idea but the pub - lisher's. The real scope of the book itself is far more modest than its moniker suggests; at no point does it claim to depict the ‘greatest intelligence operation of World War II’. What it does do is actually far more interesting. To her very great credit, Helen Fry has succeeded in writing a fantastically original and readable account of the various 'listen - ing' – or bugging – operations undertaken by British intelligence…

The British Are Coming: The War for America, 1775–1777 by Rick Atkinson William Collins, 776 pages, £25 There are few greater challenges in writing military history than tackling the American War of Independence. The first problem is scale. From first breath to last gasp, the war lasted eight years, making it one of the longest conflicts in American history. It involved armies and navies immense in scale. The naval sphere was particularly complex at the time and demands careful attention from historians now. No fewer than 22 separate navies fought in the war, and did so on five different oceans. There were also naval campaigns enacted in rivers, as well as some in entirely land-locked lakes. In terms of narrative, it is easy to become lost. There are no simple…

When the final episode of Downton Abbey was broadcast on Christmas Day in 2015, nearly 7 million viewers tuned in to witness the dramatic end to the show. And there, it seemed, the story of the Crawley family and their retainers would end, in a far-off and idealised world that was forever 1926. Then, last summer, it was announced that a film version of Downton was entering production, with a number of familiar faces returning to reprise their roles. Once again written by the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, and directed by Michael Engler, who also helmed the TV finale, the film is set in 1927. At its centre lies the sheer kerfuffle of polishing, panic and protocol angst that ensues when it’s announced that King George V and Queen Mary…

How did World on Fire come about? Damien Timmer, a producer at Mammoth Screen, and I have always loved the 1970s documentary series The World at War . Damien was speculating about whether you could do a drama with the same ambition. I think the beginning was: is there a new way of telling the story of the Second World War that isn’t solely from the British perspective? So we have a Polish family, a German family, a French couple, and so on. That way, the terrain of the series is the world. It seemed insane, but then you go away and that’s the idea that won’t leave you. How do you piece a series like this together? The ambition is that every series will be one year of the…

Dan Jones My new book, Crusaders, explores how wealth, faith, piety and greed swirled together in the clashes between Christian and Muslim rulers during the Middle Ages. It’s my pleasure to give readers a taste of it here. Dan evaluates the lucrative business of war in the Holy Land on page 20 Estelle Paranque It was during my PhD that I became fascinated by the unexpected alliance between Elizabeth I and Henri III of France. I had to dig deeper, and finally discovered how complex and compelling their diplomatic relations were. Estelle relates the tale of an unlikely royal friendship on page 40 Tom Holland Jan Žižka – the one-eyed inventor of the tank – and his army of Taborites have always seemed to me the most fascinating of medieval…

The Royal Egypt Tour takes you on a journey of discovery, uncovering many of the fascinating secrets of ancient Egypt. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that includes: • A unique and personal tour with Dr Zahi Hawass (pictured right) • Private entry to all the chambers in the Great Pyramid of Khufu • Exclusive access to the grand entrance of the Great Sphinx Enclosure • The opportunity to explore the Giza Plateau and Luxor Temple outside of normal visiting hours • Access to the active excavation site of the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders, normally closed to the public • Five-star luxury accommodation in Giza’s best hotels • A stunning eight-day cruise down the Nile…

THE NORSE PLUNDERER Sigurd ‘Jerusalemfarer’ was a Christian king of Norway who led a band of Vikings on an armed pilgrimage from Scandinavia to Jerusalem between 1107 and 1111. On their journey Sigurd’s men plundered Muslim strongholds in Lisbon, Ibiza, Formentera and Menorca and banqueted with Roger II of Sicily. Once in the east, Sigurd was feted by king Baldwin I of Jerusalem, who took him to bathe in the river Jordan and worship at Christ’s tomb. Sigurd was given a fragment of the True Cross to take back to Norway, and he also shared in the vast amount of booty taken when his men helped wrest the city of Sidon from Muslim rule. GOLDEN CAMPAIGNER Although John of Gaunt was born long after the kingdom of Jerusalem was destroyed…

Picture an artist daubing streaks of paint on to a canvas. Next, imagine a scientist meticulously studying samples in the lab. Initially these two figures may seem the antithesis of one another – one striving for unconstrained self-expression, the other for order and reason. But as a new exhibition at the Science Museum and an accompanying Radio 4 series demonstrate, the disciplines of art and science are far from polar opposites. Rather, the similarities between them can prove more illuminating than the differences, and cross-pollination has been an important driving force for both over the past 250 years. “When it comes down to it, whether you’re capturing the essence of a landscape or grappling with the concept of dark matter, you’re ultimately striving for the same thing – to understand…

Across the country, universities and colleges are experiencing major changes. While the causes of these shifts are numerous and wide-ranging – not least Brexit and a growing awareness of student mental health issues – a handful of factors are particularly relevant to history departments. These include the introduction of methods to improve teaching standards, a push to increase diversity and address inequality, and a student-led drive to ‘decolonise the curriculum’. This is not an exhaustive list of talking points, but here are some of the key elements set to shape the student experience of university – and history degrees – in the future. Getting value for money In recent years, students have been increasingly repositioned as ‘consumers’, with teaching accorded an equal status to research in the priorities of the…

We are recruiting History teachers to work as Examiners for our GCSE and GCE qualifications. We are keen to recruit qualified teachers across the UK who are currently teaching or recently retired. Being an examiner is a great way to: • Develop your understanding of assessment• Interact with fellow educational professionals• Inspire fresh ideas and approaches to teaching your subject• Boost your income To find out further information, please visit www.edexcel.com/aa-recruitmentor email us at aaresourcing@pearson.com…

What drew you to stories of scholarship in medieval Europe? The circulation of knowledge is a precarious business. Underpinning individual instances of genius is a dense network of hard graft, carried out by a silent army of diligent, self-sacrificing drones. I have a particular regard for the self-effacing medieval translators who, in the face of great odds, built bridges between the knowledge-starved Dark Ages and the splendours of the classical world. Through illuminated manuscripts, they painstakingly brought back to life knowledge and languages that had nearly slipped from our grasp. Were you inspired by any real medieval manuscripts in particular? The Book of Kells made a vivid impression on me as a child growing up in Dublin. So too did the haiku-like poems Irish monks sometimes left in the margins…

The Anxious Triumph: A Global History of Capitalism, 1860–1914 by Donald Sassoon Allen Lane, 800 pages, £30 In 2019, the world faces a backlash against the ‘hyper-globalisation’ that hit a crisis with the financial meltdown of 2008. Threats of protectionism and trade warfare are under - mining the postwar multilateral order created by the US, a country turning towards eco - nomic nationalism. Donald Sassoon’s brilliant book offers a highly original and perceptive historical reflection on our current plight by considering the explosion of global capital - ism in the late 19th century, which met its nemesis in the First World War. His range is impressive, roaming across the globe with rich detail and insight, and his writing is fast-paced and accessible. Sassoon is less interested in how capital -…

Babita Sharma on the history of corner shops “Kids who became members of the National Front were still buying their ice pops from Mr Patel and then later growing up to buy their cans of Diamond White from Mr Patel. In the book I talk about how this one guy, who was a member of the National Front, would still continue to be very polite to Mr Patel even though, outside of the shop, he was a very vocal racist.” Helen Fry on an operation to trick Nazi prisoners into giving up vital secrets “We know from surviving transcripts that the German prisoners thought their British interrogators were stupid and incompetent. But that was all part of the deception. After an interrogation the prisoner would return to his room and…

Broadcast live, to engender a sense of urgency in the discussion, In Our Time remains one of the jewels in Radio 4’s programming. That’s in great part down to host Melvyn Bragg, who week after week encourages his guests, principally academics, to share their knowledge without disappearing down the more arcane byways of their specialisms. A new series begins in September with a programme about Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in 1812, and continues with a show focusing on the Christian idea of the rapture. In Our Time Scheduled for Thursday 19 September / BBC Radio 4…

In 1977, Panorama cameras headed for Faraday High, a large comprehensive in East Acton, London. The documentary showed scenes of chaotic classrooms where teachers appeared to have lost control. Introduced by David Dimbleby (pictured), the episode shocked viewers and sparked political controversy. In a new Radio 4 programme, former Faraday pupil Shabnam Grewal looks back at a portrait of a school made at the high-water mark of the comprehensive movement, and which may have played a part in ushering in the more conservative approach to education that has prevailed in recent decades. Archive on 4: Panorama Broke My School Scheduled for Saturday 21 September / BBC Radio 4 WEEKLY TV & RADIO Visit historyextra.com for weekly updates on upcoming TV and radio programmes…

Despite plenty of generic figures representing angels and mothers, Wales has a dearth of statues honouring specific women. Why is this? In a Radio 4 documentary, Jasmine Donahaye considers how Welsh culture has been skewed towards male symbols, a situation reflected in public art. This may be changing. Recently, a public poll to select Wales’s ‘Hidden Heroine’ decided that Betty Campbell, the first black headteacher in the country, should be commemorated in Cardiff. But will her statue, asks Donahaye, have a deeper significance beyond becoming a landmark? Statue No 1: A Welsh Woman Takes the Plinth Scheduled for mid September / BBC Radio 4…

Scientists and archaeologists have discovered the “astonishingly preserved” remains of a Renaissance-era ship at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Although the vessel was first detected by sonar in 2009, experts have only recently been able to capture images of the wreck, which still has its mast, hull, swivel guns and tender boat (used to ferry crew to and from the ship) intact. Subsequent studies have concluded that the vessel dates from the late 15th or early 16th century, making it one of the best-preserved examples of a ship from that era found in recent times. Have a story? Please email Jon Bauckham at jon.bauckham@immediate.co.uk…

In summer 1619, by the steamy creeks of the James river on Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, the General Assembly of Jamestown met in the settlement’s newly built church, the first representative governing body of the English settlers within the future United States. The 400th anniversary of this event was commemorated recently by President Trump, amid bitter demonstrations and boycotts by black legislators. In more ways than one, it was a very charged moment in American history. And a few weeks later something no less momentous happened. Two battered English privateers reached the Virginia coast escorting a captured Portuguese slave ship carrying the first African slaves to arrive in English America. Seized in the Caribbean, the ship had come from Luanda in the Portuguese colony of Angola, where in 1618–19 the…

“Women’s Social and Political Union,” began the flyer. “VOTES FOR WOMEN. Men and women – help the suffragettes to rush the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, 13 October 1908, at 7:30.” After years of escalating suffragette pro - tests, the idea of a ‘rush’ on the Commons had been devised by WSPU leaders Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughter Christabel and their friend Flora Drummond. There was nothing secret about the plan: not only had Christabel shown the flyer to a policeman, but on Sunday 11 October, they addressed a rally in Trafalgar Square, urging their listeners to join them in storming the Commons chamber. The next day, the three leaders were served with a court summons, demanding that they report to Bow Street police station. But they did not respond…

ON 1 OCTOBER 1949, 70 years ago, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist party, stood in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace at the heart of Beijing and announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Earlier, he had declared: “The Chinese people have stood up.” Mao set China on the path to its status today as a global economic and political giant – but not without several near-fatal turns along the way. For more than three decades beforehand, the country had been constantly at war. In the 1920s, Chinese military leaders fought each other for control. In 1937, China was attacked by Japan, plunging it into a conflict that would kill more than 10 million people and end only with the Americans dropping the atomic…

We welcome your letters, while reserving the right to edit them. We may publish your letters on our website. Please include a daytime phone number and, if emailing, a postal address (not for publication). Letters should be no longer than 250 words. email: letters@historyextra.com Post: Letters, BBC History Magazine, Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol BS1 4ST The opinions expressed by our commentators are their own and may not represent the views of BBC History Magazine or the Immediate Media Company…

Welcome to the guide Thinking of studying history at university, but still filled with unanswered questions? Over the following pages, we explore the key issues affecting history students in 2019, looking at how radical changes in higher education are likely to shape undergraduate life for years to come. We also offer top tips on what to consider if you’re thinking of spending a year at a foreign institution, and speak to a selection of history graduates on how their degrees have boosted their careers. We hope you find this guide informative – whether you’re a prospective student or simply interested in the teaching of history in 2019.…

On the night of 16–17 May 1943 a squadron of RAF bombers, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, attacked a number of dams in the Ruhr industrial heartland of Germany. Operation Chastise used ‘bouncing bombs’ conceived by the British engineer Barnes Wallis to evade the dams’ defences. Two of those dams – the Möhne and the Eder – were breached, although the Sorpe crucially evaded serious damage. Of the 133 men who set off that night, 53 died and another three were taken prisoner. Meanwhile around 1,300 people were killed by the flood waters. The story of the Dambusters was immortalised in a 1955 film. Rob Attar: Where did the idea to attack dams originate? Sir Max Hastings: The RAF figured out back in 1937–38 that if it was possible…

Charles I’s Killers in America: The Lives & Afterlives of Edward Whalley & William Goffe by Matthew Jenkinson OUP, 288 pages, £20 In 1675, colonists in the Massachusetts town of Hadley were apparently rescued from indigenous inhabitants during the conflict known to the English as King Philip’s War. In their “utmost confusion”, a “grave elderly person” appeared, inspiring them to drive their enemies away. This “Angel of Hadley” turned out to be William Goffe, an experienced soldier who had taken refuge in New England with his father-in-law, Edward Whalley, in 1660. Both men had signed the death warrant of Charles I and were consequently marked men at the Restoration. Rather than suffer martyrdom, they had boarded a ship for New England only days before Charles II landed in Dover. Jenkinson’s…

Infamy: The Crimes of Ancient Rome by Jerry Toner Profile, 320 pages, £16.99 “Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me.” So Kenneth Williams’ Julius Caesar declared in the 1964 film Carry on Cleo. The same, Jerry Toner argues in his new book Infamy, might be said of Rome itself. From the pages of Tacitus to the HBO series Rome, people have long portrayed this empire as “a place of infamy, riven with savagery, sin and corruption”. Not, it must be said, entirely without reason. Take Caesar himself. In 58 BC, desperate to raise money and his profile, he began his Gallic Wars. Eight years later, a million Gauls were enslaved and a million more were dead. Other rulers were little better. In AD 25, Tiberius forced a rich…

SEASONAL Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton (Reaktion, 232 pages, £9.99) NOW IN PAPERBACK Spooky celebrations From cabbage-pulling and pranks to ‘fate cakes’ (baked in silence and placed under pillows to induce dreams), a range of surprising games, beliefs and traditions are behind today’s Halloween festivities. This social history explores the roots of apple bobbing, pumpkin carving and more, before asking how an evening of terror cobbled together from a variety of origins went on to achieve global domination. GEORGIAN The World in 38 Chapters, or Dr Johnson’s Guide to Life by Henry Hitchings (Picador, 320 pages, £9.99) NOW IN PAPERBACK Words of wisdom Dr Johnson is well-known for his quotable musings on life (“Whoever thinks of going to bed before 12 o’clock is a scoundrel,”…

The historic relationship between men and women’s fashion is the subject of a free exhibition at Ulster Museum, which runs until June next year. Featuring garments dating back to the 17th century, the colourful display explores the ways in which male style has been adopted by women’s fashion over the past 400 years, and how the influence has sometimes flowed in both directions. Appropriately entitled Vice Versa, the exhibition contains the work of some of history’s most famous designers, such as Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘Le Smoking’ – a tuxedo suit for women, inspired by a traditional male smoking jacket. Other key pieces on display include a Chinese imperial robe dating from the Qing dynasty and a French silk embroidered court suit from the 1600s, along with outfits and accessories designed…

Born in 1887, Jewish portrait photographer Gertrud ‘Gerty’ Simon carved out a successful career in Weimar-era Berlin, where she captured images of the city’s most prominent figures, ranging from Lotte Lenya to Albert Einstein. However, as the Nazis rose to power during the early 1930s, Simon was forced to flee Germany with her son, eventually settling in London. Thankfully, she soon made a name for herself in the British capital and was able to establish a thriving new studio, photographing the likes of Aneurin Bevan and Dame Peggy Ashcroft. An exhibition at the Wiener Library – the world’s oldest centre for Holocaust studies – showcases dozens of Simon’s original prints, which had been hidden away for decades until they were donated to the library in 2016. Poignantly, the display includes…

1. 18 STAFFORD TERRACE Visit a Victorian ‘House Beautiful’, the home of illustrator Linley Sambourne and his family, inspired by the Aesthetic Movement and with a showcase of the artist’s collection of drawings and photographs. 2 FOR 1 until 6 October. rbkc.gov.uk/museums 2. NATIONAL WATERFRONT MUSEUM Right on the dock in Swansea’s marina, the National Waterfront Museum tells the human story of 300 years of Welsh industry and innovation. Free entry. Oystermouth Road, Maritime Quarter, Swansea, SA1 3RD. museum.wales/swansea | 0300 111 2333 3. BUTSER ANCIENT FARM A unique experimental archaeological site in the beautiful South Downs. Step inside reconstructed buildings from the Stone Age, Iron Age, Roman and Saxon periods and learn traditional skills with year-round workshops and events. butserancientfarm.co.uk | 02392 598838 4. DERBY MUSEUMS Visit our beautiful World…

When did you first hear about Amelia Earhart? I remember hearing stories about Amelia when I was about eight years old. My dad is a history man, so most likely he told me about her adventures. I became fascinated by this amazing woman who set all these flying records, had her own clothing line and was an associate editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. She just seemed so accomplished and talented. What kind of person was she? I get the impression she was a big character, which I admire in a woman. But she was also a great supporter of women and equality in general, so there was obviously a nurturing side to her too. She didn’t just want to achieve great things for herself, she wanted to make it easier for…