History Reconsidered

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the middle stages of World War II when the Axis powers were ascendent and victory for Great Britain seemed bleak. They discuss whether Germany's cross channel invasion of the British Isles could have succeeded.Maitra and Stepman talk about the sinking of the Bismark, one of the largest and greatest battleships ever built. It was ultimately stopped not by another powerful man-of-war, but by the torpedo dropped by an airplane. It was a sign that the age of the battleship was over and the age of the aircraft carrier and air power had come. Are we seeing a similar change in warfare today where the aircraft carrier has become merely an impressive, but fragile waste of resources?

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the United States and Great Britain on the eve of World War II. Stepman and Maitra explain the "America First" movement in the United States and why most Americans were adamantly opposed to war. Many Americans believed that involvement in the conflict would change the country forever, and it did.Maitra makes a spirited defense of Neville Chamberlain, explaining that while the British statesman got some things wrong, he was not the "wimp" caricature that he's often been portrayed as. Stepman and Sumatra talk about why the British Empire had reason to be cautious about engaging in another great conflict with Germany and why the United States was the U.K.'s only hope of victory once the war began and France had been defeated.

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi Germany. Was Weimar doomed from the beginning?Maitra and Stepman explain how and why Weimar disintegrated. They also talk about why Germany took a totalitarian turn between the first and second world war and why they ended up so much stronger than the victors of the Great War by 1939.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.