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The Poles had done stunning work in cracking the Enigma codes, but after Poland fell, British Intelligence inherited the project.

At a country home outside London called Bletchley Park, teams of experts worked on Enigma decryption, including the famous mathematician Alan Turing.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Prelude and Fugue in D Major” from The Well-Tempered Clavier.
Composed in 1722 by Johann Sebastian Bach. 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Photograph of Alan Turing statue by Antoine Taveneaux, used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

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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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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.

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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.

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Benito Mussolini became irked by Adolf Hitler’s military move into Romania, and that he had not been consulted, or even informed.

He set out to prove that Italy was also capable of taking military action without informing Berlin, by beginning a war with Greece.

• 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.

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The German failure to bring the British to heel during the Battle of Britain left the two warring nations in a stalemate. Neither nation had a plausible means of defeating the other.

But when Italy entered the war, it created an Italian-British front in North Africa. The Italians had numerical superiority, but they couldn’t keep up with the motorized British units.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Violin Concerto in G Minor “Summer”
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.

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When France collapsed, Franklin Roosevelt and his administration pushed for aid to Britain.

But there was also a Presidential election to think of. The Republicans nominated a dark horse candidate who agreed with the need to aid the British and was a surprisingly adept campaigner.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Composed in 1808 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Davis High School Symphony 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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The United States was preoccupied with domestic issues, especially economic issues, during the run-up to the war in Europe.

The Neutrality Act was intended to keep America out of another war. The Roosevelt Administration looked for ways to aid France and Britain in spite of it.

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• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Komm, süßer Tod”
Composed in 1736 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Laurindo Almeida. 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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Pulp fiction magazines sorted themselves out by genre, although the heroes of these stories were mostly drawn from one archetype.

Eventually, magazines emerged that only published stories about one particular fictional hero. From there, it was only a few short steps to superhero comic books.

• Listen now:

• Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to William Tell
Composed in 1829 by Gioachino Rossini. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Corps 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, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.