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During the First World War, the British had broken virtually all of Germany’s codes and had excellent intelligence on German military and diplomatic communications.

The Germans were determined not to let that happen again. In the Second World War, they relied on Enigma, a machine that produced coded messages thought to be unbreakable.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Rondo alla turca
Composed in 1784 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Photograph of Enigma machine by Alessandro Nassiri, used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Source.

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Germany began the Second World War with a navy that was badly outnumbered by the Allied navies.

The Fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war changed the naval balance of power. Also, Germany could now base submarines and ships on the coasts of France or Norway, much closer to the trade lanes. Now it was the Royal Navy that began to feel stretched.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to Der fliegende Höllander (The Flying Dutchman)
Composed in 1840 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago Orchestra, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Photograph of Bismarck from the Bundesarchiv, used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. Source.

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In 1940, the British government was funding research in to a number of technologies that had the potential to help win the war; technologies like radar, proximity fuzes, jet planes, ASDIC, and of course, the atomic bomb. But the Battle of Britain was on, and British factories were turning out fighter planes and other immediate war needs. There was no spare capacity to develop and build these new technologies.

So the British turned to the United States, the nation famous for its mass production.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Water Music
Composed in 1717 by George Frideric Handel. Public domain.
Performed by the Bath Festival Orchestra. 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Italy’s invasion of Greece was a disaster. After a few weeks of fighting, it was the Greek Army pushing the Italians back into Albania.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the British had forced the Italians out of Egypt and were advancing into Libya. The Royal Navy launched a carrier strike against the Italian Navy’s main base at Taranto and disabled three of Italy’s six battleships.

• Listen now:

• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Violin Concerto in F Major “Autumn”
Composed in 1723 by Antonio Vivaldi. Public domain.
Performed by John Harrison. Performance used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.