I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.

In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?

Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.

A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by

their own light and that light is to be recognised by others. The long history of heroism with me,

Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC

World Service with me, Max Pearson, the past brought to life

by those who were there. This week, Gibraltar under Spanish blockade.

Many families would arrange to meet at a certain time on a certain day. They would go there

and look, I'll see you on Saturday at such a time, you know, and they would be there waiting

on the other side. Plus, refugees from Namibia's War of Independence who escaped to East Germany,

from the 1970s Britain's first reality TV family, and since it's that time of year, white Christmas.

It's just a simple ballad melody. There's nothing particularly unique about the musical structure of it

is sort of a haunting melody that fits the spirit of the Christmas season.

That's all coming up later in the podcast, but we begin with the brutal birth of Bangladesh.

50 years ago, in December 1970, Pakistan held its first general elections since independence

from British colonial rule. This was when Pakistan still consisted of the two Muslim-majority

entities of East Pakistan and West Pakistan. This is the first time since Britain granted independence

to Pakistan in 1947 that there's been an opportunity

for every adult Pakistani to vote for the government he or she wants.

The 1970 election results would ultimately lead to war, the breakup of Pakistan and the creation

of the new country, Bangladesh.

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