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By 1944, a German defeat seemed inevitable. In August, Romania defected from the Axis and joined the Allies. Within weeks, Bulgaria followed suit, while Finland agreed to an armistice with the USSR.

This left Hungary as Germany’s sole remaining ally in Europe, and Hungary only stayed loyal because of German military intervention.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8 in F# Minor
Composed in 1847 by Franz Liszt. Public domain.
Performed by Shuwen Zhang, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The British approach to aerial bombing over Germany involved nighttime area raids over German cities.

The American approach sought to strike specific targets in daylight raids, targets that were vital to German war production. At first results were disappointing, but by 1944, the Americans had devised a more promising approach.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, “American”
Composed in 1893 by Antonín Dvořák. Public domain.
Performed by The Musopen String Quartet. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The “total war” effort required to fight in the Second World War underscored the irrationality of American policies toward its Black citizens.

The new opportunities the war opened, in both the military and in civilian employment, provided African Americans with greater political power.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”
Composed in 1922 by Henry Creamer and J. Turner Layton. Public domain.
Performed by The Dixieland Jazz Ensemble of the US Coast Guard Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Germany had been a leader in rocket research since the Twenties, with the German military providing much of the support.

Development of rockets as weapons of war shifted into high gear in 1942. In comparison with the respective sizes of their economies, Germany invested as heavily in rockets as the US did in the atomic bomb.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Mars, the Bringer of War,” from The Planets
Composed in 1916 by Gustav Holst. Public domain.
Performed by the USAF Heritage of America Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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By 1944, the Manhattan Project had developed facilities to produce uranium and plutonium suitable for use in an atomic bomb. What remained was for the experts at Los Alamos to figure out how to design an build a bomb that could fit on a bomber, deliver the bomb to the target, and explode when it was supposed to.

When it came to light that the plutonium reactor was producing the isotope Pu-240 in addition to Pu-239, it seemed a plutonium bomb was no longer feasible. Or was it?

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Sonata in B♭ Major
Composed ca. 1725 by Domenico Scarlatti. Public domain.
Performed by Thomas Goff. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The German invasion hit the Soviet economy hard. Food was in short supply and strictly rationed. Workers were allocated to jobs according to the nation’s war needs. Consumer goods were all but unobtainable.

Soviet propaganda called on citizens to give “All For the Front.”

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Anthem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic”
Composed in 1944 by Niescier Sakałoŭski. Public domain.
Performed by the Military Band of the Belorussian Military District. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Wartime rationing in the USA was a picnic in the park compared to life in the UK during the war.

Britain imported most of its food, and those shipments were now threatened by German U-boats, while the Luftwaffe was bombing British cities.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

English Folk Song Suite
Composed in 1923 by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Public domain.
Performed by the Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra and used pursuant to an EFF: Open Audio License. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Entry into the war brought wartime rationing to the United States. Americans were accustomed to ready availability of their favorite foods and consumer goods, so rationing came as a shock, but at least it kept prices low.

Millions of Americans moved to other parts of the country in pursuit of war production jobs. Millions of American women entered the work force, but finding child care was a problem.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Yes! We Have No Bananas”
Composed in 1923 by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. Public domain.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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On August 15, 1944, the Western Allies landed forces in southern France. Two days later, the Falaise pocket was closed, trapping 50,000 German soldiers.

The German front line in the West collapsed. The Allies entered Paris and there was talk of the war ending by Christmas.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Hino Nacional Brasileiro”
Composed in 1831 by Francisco Manuel da Silva. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Patton’s Third Army broke through the front line in Normandy and quickly advanced behind German lines.

The weeks-long stalemate at Normandy was about to end.

• Listen now:

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“O Canada”
Composed in 1880 by Calixa Lavallée. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.