Hello and welcome to a History of Europe podcast.

Over the last few years, in over 250 episodes, I have related the grand sweep of European history,

from the ancient Greeks to the First World War. I focused on

key military battles, but spent the majority of the time speaking about the background and the

aftermath of each conflict. If this is your first time to the podcast, welcome, and I'm glad

you could join me. There are lots of episodes in the archive to enjoy.

If you have listened to the previous episodes, welcome back, and I'm glad to invite you to a brand new series.

Instead of key battles, I will talk about the interwar years, that is the years from between the First and Second World Wars, between 1918 and

1945. I will describe the conflicts that took place such as the Russian Civil War and Spanish Civil

War, but also the politics of the period, including the rise of fascism and Nazism.

There's lots to tell, so with no further ado, let's begin.

Europe has had an extremely violent history.

In this podcast, so far, I've given the narrative of the continent,

focusing on numerous struggles for power, which have all too often ended in warfare,

and resulting loss of life and destruction of towns and communities. Hardly a decade has gone

by without a major conflict arising somewhere. The largest conflict I described was the Great War of 1914 to 1918, which was exceptionally bloody.

It had been unique, both in scale and in the changes it brought about.

The slaughter was unprecedented.

Whole nations were affected, resources used up far more quickly than ever before. Social and political uncertainties swept away in all countries.

Three great dynasties fell in Austria, Hungary, Russia and Germany, and brand new nations sprung up across Central and Eastern Europe.

According to the traditional narrative in Britain, when the Great War finished in November

1918, the surviving soldiers returned home, all traumatised to some extent and many severely

...