Making sense of this crazy world

German Reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

You would be hard pushed to find a single German who didn’t hate the Treaty of Versailles and those who had forced it on their nation; and for many, those who had accepted it: the November Criminals as they were labelled. And that’s what this episode is going to look at, and in doing so, help explain why we had a second world war.

Dealing with Germany and Reshaping Europe

As a break from the Middle East, I thought it would be interesting to look at how the allies in Paris dealt with Germany and take in briefly how Europe was reshaped. It seems to me that you would find it interesting as there is no doubt that the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty that dealt with Germany, is a major factor in any explanation of the second world war and all that entailed, whilst the other treaties went a long way to reshape Europe. So, the first of two episodes looking at how Germany was dealt with and, with this episode at least, how Europe was reshaped.

Enter Ataturk

I said you would meet Mustafa Kemal or Ataturk properly, well, now’s the time. I’ve given hints of his place in Turkish history and now it’s time to do that properly too. Because you can’t understand modern Turkey and what Erdogan has done with Ataturk’s Turkey unless we go back to what Ataturk established.

Dealing with the Turks

This episode is going to take a look at how the peacemakers dealt with Turkey as we shouldn’t underestimate the significance of Turkey today. It has a different relationship to the countries of the Middle East, and Russia too, than do western European countries and America; while it is a member of NATO, and has been since 1952. And that alone makes it very important.

Manoeuvrings in Paris

This episode continues our look at the Paris Peace Conference that followed WW1 as it gets down to the nitty gritty of the negotiations that did so much to shape the way the Middle East looks, and feels, today.

Manoeuvrings before the Paris Peace Conference

This episode begins a considered look at the manoeuvrings both immediately before and during the Paris Peace Conference, the conference that shaped the world after WW1. Its really important because this conference set in motion the grievances that the Arab world and the Muslim world hold against the West today, and that includes, not only the fact that there is an Israeli state, and the situation in Gaza and the West Bank today, but it also goes a long way to explaining the sorry state of Lebanon too, and also any proper explanation of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, the regime of Saddam Hussein and the tragic civil war in Syria.

British and French manoeuvrings during WW1

The themes of this history so far
Allies (that is Britain and France) that didn’t trust each other; indeed, allies that shouldn’t trust each other
How British and French imperialism was paying little regard to the needs of those who had lived for generation after generation in the Middle East
And the hole Britain was digging itself saying different things to the French, the Arabs and the Zionists

How the Middle East was shaped: A line in the sand

In this series I’m going to go back to the Middle East and the roots of the Middle East as we know it today; with all its worrying problems. And to do that, I have to go back to WW1, even before the war, at least a little bit.

Explaining Taiwan

I’m going to end this mini-series on history trumping geography with a look at Taiwan because, along with the Korean peninsula, the situation with Israel and the Palestinians and Ukraine, it is one of the spots most likely to cause a major conflict. And it is another part of our world where History has trumped geography.

Explaining why we have two Koreas

I’m returning to Asia to end this mini-series on history trumping geography with two episodes that look at parts of the world that could threaten world peace. This week its the Korean peninsula.