Tour Survey

Mark Update

Interested in a History of the Twentieth Century tour? Take our survey! Let us know that you’re interested, and give us suggestions on what kind of tour you’d like to be a part of.

The survey ends June 5, so make sure to fill out the form before then. The survey is only for the purpose of gauging interest, and filling out a survey form will not commit you to anything.

UPDATE: The survey has been extended to June 12.

UPDATE 2: The survey is over. Thanks to everyone who participated. It appears likely there will be a trip, and it will be to Belgium, but we’re still working out the details. I’ll let you all know after everything is decided.

324: Plan Red

Mark Podcast

Refugees in France, fleeing the advancing German Army.

After the evacuation was completed and Dunkirk surrendered, the German military proceeded with Plan Red, the second and final stage of the offensive.

After Paris fell, some in the French Cabinet were ready to seek surrender terms.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Reverie.
Composed in 1890 by Claude Debussy. Public domain.
Performed by Simone Renzi, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

323: Operation Dynamo

Mark Podcast

British soldiers throng the deck of a Royal Navy destroyer after escaping from Dunkirk.

The German armored thrust through the Ardennes had surrounded and isolated hundreds of thousands of French, British, and Belgian soldiers, and soldiers from other Allied nations.

The Royal Navy began a last-ditch attempt to evacuate as many as possible from the French port of Dunkirk.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

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

Closing War Theme


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.

322: Plan Yellow

Mark Podcast

The center of Rotterdam following the German bombing attack in 1940.

After months of delays, Adolf Hitler finally got the Western offensive he’d been pushing for since the fall of 1939.

Key to the plan (Plan Yellow) was a secret German armored spearhead through the Ardennes that would pierce the French line at an unexpected place. It was a gamble, but it paid off.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold.
Composed in 1869 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

321: Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat

Mark Podcast

Winston Churchill and Lord Halifax in 1938.

The Allied intervention in Norway failed to prevent the Germans from securing control over that country.

This failure triggered a backlash in the British Parliament against the Chamberlain government. A new government of national unity was formed, with Winston Churchill as prime minister.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Rule, Britannia!”
Composed in 1740 by Thomas Arne. Public domain.

Closing War Theme


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.

320: Operation Weserübung

Mark Podcast

The German cruiser Blücher sinking in the Oslofjord as Germany invades Norway.

With neither side taking the initiative on the main front, Winston Churchill pushed his plan for intervening in Norway, for the purpose of denying Germany the use of Norwegian waters.

At the same time, Germany was preparing to invade and occupy Norway.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (National anthem of Norway.)
Composed in 1864 by Rikard Nordraak. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

319: Winston Is Back!

Mark Podcast

German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.

In the last months before the war broke out, Winston Churchill’s view of Nazi Germany seemed increasingly prescient, while Neville Chamberlain’s became increasingly embarrassing.

Chamberlain stubbornly resisted calls to invite Churchill into the Cabinet until the war began; then he was given his old job of First Lord of the Admiralty, the same post he had held at the outbreak of the previous war.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Serenade for String Orchestra
Composed in 1892 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Army Strings. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

318: The Calm Before the Storm

Mark Podcast

2003 German postage stamp, honoring Georg Elser, the would-be assassin of Adolf Hitler.

Hitler wanted to begin a western offensive as soon as possible, but bad weather continued to force delays. In January 1940, a copy of the battle plan for the upcoming offensive fell into Allied hands.

Also, in November 1939, Georg Elser (pictured above) attempted to assassinate Hitler and came very close to succeeding

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fantasie from Die Walküre
Composed in 1870 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

317: The Winter War

Mark Podcast

A Soviet T-26 tank advances into Finland during the Winter War.

With France and Britain at war with Germany, the Soviet Union was free to do as it pleased in the East.

When Finland refused to consider allowing Soviet military bases on its soil, the USSR invaded. Most thought Finland would quickly collapse, as Poland had just two months earlier, but in Finland the outcome was different.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Maame” (The informal national anthem of Finland.)
Composed in 1848 by Fredrik Pacius. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.

316: Nazism Unleashed

Mark Podcast

The Polish town of Wieluń, near the German border. The Luftwaffe bombed it on the first day of the war, despite the absence of any legitimate military target.

First Germany, then the USSR, invaded Poland in September 1939.

Even the Germans were surprised how quickly the Polish defense collapsed. The occupation of Poland allowed the Nazi Germans and the Soviet Communists the freedom to do with the nation and its people as they pleased.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Komm, süsser Tod” (“Come, Sweet Death”)
Composed in 1736 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed Laurindo Almeida. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


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.