HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-06-12T17:58:59.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Why did the Soviet Union adopt the hammer and sickle, and how did it become a symbol of communist revolution?
items: Josef Stalin: the paranoid dictator who forged the Soviet Union into a superpower
items: Nixon in China: the trip that changed the Cold War
items: Mao’s Cultural Revolution: everything you wanted to know
items: History’s greatest mysteries: why did Mao’s chosen successor flee China?
items: Living through the fall of communism
items: How a ballerina survived the Gulag
items: Snuffed out democracies and poisoned toothpaste: how the Cold War wreaked havoc in post-colonial Africa
items: Are revolutions doomed to failure?
items: The Cold War battle for Berlin

Why did the Soviet Union adopt the hammer and sickle, and how did it become a symbol of communist revolution?
type: item
date: 2024-08-07T14:50:50.000Z
creator: Danny Bird
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Communism
subject: Evergreen
description: The hammer and sickle is one of the modern world’s most recognisable symbols. It instantly evokes the former Soviet Union and communism. For some people around the globe, it remains a beacon of hope for a better tomorrow. But for others it is a painful reminder of totalitarian oppression and terror. What’s the history behind this revolutionary symbol?
encoded: What is the hammer and sickle? The symbol of the hammer and sickle is typically presented in a two-dimensional format, with the hammer crossed over the curved blade of the sickle (a tool traditionally used for harvesting crops, which has a curved metal blade often set on top of a wooden handle). A red star often – though not always – appears just above the tip of the sickle. The hammer represents the working class engaged in industrial production, who, according to Marxist theory, are destined to overthrow the bourgeoisie, the dominant social class under capitalism. The sickle denotes the peasantry, the toilers of the land. Though the symbol denotes solidarity between agricultural and industrial workers, the 19th-century philosopher Karl Marx, whose works were foundational to the beliefs of Vladimir Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks, had dismissed the peasantry as a vestige, leftover by the epoch that had preceded capitalism: feudalism. Marx regarded peasants as an instinctively conservative class that would likely prove hostile to a workers’ revolution. The adoption of a visual expression of unity between worker and peasant shows the Bolsheviks’ adaption of Marxism to their homeland’s specific circumstances, referencing the socio-economic reality of Russia, which was still a predominantly agrarian society with little industrial development, at the time of the October Revolution in 1917. When did the hammer and sickle first appear? In early 1918, Lenin and Anatoly Lunacharsky – head of the regime’s Commissariat for Education (known as ‘Narkompros’) – launched a competition for artists and designers to create an official seal for the nascent Soviet state. The entries were a diverse assortment that spanned everything from striking avant-garde forms, classical imagery such as overflowing cornucopias, and even a double-headed eagle shorn of its feathers and regalia (the double-headed eagle had been adopted centuries before by the Russian tsars to symbolise their link to a…

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Josef Stalin: the paranoid dictator who forged the Soviet Union into a superpower
type: item
date: 2024-07-25T12:11:21.000Z
creator: Danny Bird
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Communism
subject: Evergreen
description: Stalin is widely regarded as one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants in history. From his childhood in the Caucasus to his career as a Bolshevik revolutionary, Robert Service explores his life and explains why he was constantly underestimated by his contemporaries
encoded: Josef Stalin was the longest-serving leader of the world’s first socialist state, the Soviet Union, one of the principal architects of the postwar order and among the most ruthless tyrants to have ever lived. Undoubtedly, he was one of the 20th century’s most consequential figures. Speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, historian Robert Service explains how the young Stalin had been seduced by revolutionary ideals of the age and ultimately joined the network of Marxists operating both inside and outside the territories ruled over by the tsar. As a Bolshevik, he played a key role during the events of the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin ultimately emerged as the Soviet Union’s de facto leader, confounding those around him who had misjudged his political acumen. During the 1930s, his Five-Year plans drastically altered the socioeconomic makeup of the USSR at a terrible human cost. His innate paranoia then instigated a bloody purge of his one-time comrades in the Communist Party as he sought to consolidate his grip on power. Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 marked the most vulnerable point in his dictatorship. Nevertheless, allied with Britain and America, the Soviet dictator would play a major role in reshaping the world following the defeat of Hitler’s regime in 1945. By the time of his death in 1953, Stalinism – the ideology synonymous with his approach to statecraft and culture – had transformed the Soviet Union into a superpower. But not without cost: estimated tens of millions had perished due to his decisions. This would ensure his criticism by successors. Where and when was Stalin born? Josef Stalin was born as Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili in Gori, Georgia on 18 December 1878. Located in the mountainous Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian seas, Georgia was part of the Russian empire at the time. However, some sources specify that he was born in 1879. Stalin preferred to “stay fairly quiet about…

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Nixon in China: the trip that changed the Cold War
type: item
date: 2022-02-23T12:07:52.000Z
creator: Matt Elton
subject: 20th Century
subject: Cold War
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
subject: US presidents
description: Rana Mitter discusses US president Richard Nixon’s 1972 trip to China – a visit that changed the course of the Cold War
encoded: Fifty years ago this month, US president Richard Nixon embarked on a trip to China – a visit that marked a key moment in the thawing of relations between the two nations. Rana Mitter talks to Matt Elton about the 1972 visit, and how it changed the course of the Cold War. Read more from Rana Mitter on Nixon's 1972 trip to China How to download the HistoryExtra podcast Download as MP3

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Mao’s Cultural Revolution: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2022-01-16T12:17:07.000Z
creator: Rob Attar
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
description: Rana Mitter answers your questions on one of the defining events of modern Chinese history, launched by Chairman Mao in 1966
encoded: In the latest episode in our series on history’s biggest topics, Professor Rana Mitter answers your questions about one of the defining events of modern Chinese history. Speaking to Rob Attar, he explores the role of Chairman Mao in the Cultural Revolution, its impact on China’s population and its legacy today. How to download the HistoryExtra podcast Download as MP3

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History’s greatest mysteries: why did Mao’s chosen successor flee China?
type: item
date: 2021-12-31T12:08:14.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
subject: Historical people
subject: History's greatest mysteries podcast series
description: In the latest in our series on history’s biggest conundrums, historian Rana Mitter considers the mysterious “Lin Biao incident”
encoded: Fifty years ago, in September 1971, Lin Biao boarded a flight out of the country, only to crash in the Mongolian desert shortly afterwards. Was this the result of an aborted coup on Lin’s part? And where exactly was his plane heading? In the latest in our series on history’s biggest conundrums, historian Rana Mitter answers these questions and more about the mysterious “Lin Biao incident”. Browse all episodes in our podcast series on History's Greatest Mysteries

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Living through the fall of communism
type: item
date: 2021-11-02T12:04:40.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
description: Professor Lea Ypi reflects on her childhood years, which witnessed the final years of communism in Albania and the fraught transition to capitalist democracy
encoded: Professor Lea Ypi reflects on her childhood years, which witnessed the final years of communism in Albania and the fraught transition to capitalist democracy. In conversation with Rob Attar, she also considers what these experiences have taught her about the true nature of freedom. Lea Ypi is the author of Free: Coming of Age at the End of History (Penguin, 2021) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon Buy now on Waterstones How to download the HistoryExtra podcast Download as MP3

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How a ballerina survived the Gulag
type: item
date: 2021-10-26T11:31:51.000Z
creator: Elinor Evans
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
description: Christina Ezrahi shares the story of Nina Anisimova, a premier Soviet ballerina arrested for supposed counter-revolutionary activity
encoded: Christina Ezrahi speaks to Elinor Evans about the story of Nina Anisimova, one of the most famous ballerinas in Stalin’s Soviet Union. After being arrested for supposed counter-revolutionary activity, Anisimova was transported to a forced labour camp, only to make a remarkable return to the stage. Christina Ezrahi is the author of Dancing for Stalin: A Dancer’s Story of Courage and Survival in Soviet Russia (Elliott & Thompson Ltd, 2021) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon Buy now on Waterstones

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Snuffed out democracies and poisoned toothpaste: how the Cold War wreaked havoc in post-colonial Africa
type: item
date: 2021-08-19T07:05:29.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Cold War
subject: Period
subject: Communism
description: The years following the Second World War saw European empires lose their grasp on Africa. Lawrence James explores the efforts of the United States and Soviet Union to secure influence across the post-colonial continent
encoded: Soon after dawn on 5 November 1956, British paratroopers drifted down on the El Gamil airfield near Port Said in northern Egypt. Simultaneously, French troops landed at Raswa and Port Fuad just to the south and east. The invasion of Port Said, and the operation to capture the Suez Canal, was launched. The following day, a huge sea and air assault, supporting landings of British tanks and marines, succeeded in taking the port. By midnight, British and French troops had secured the canal zone – and sparked fury from the United States and the Soviet Union. Both superpowers had been wooing Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser – first the US, which offered then withdrew financial support for the construction of an Aswan dam, then the Soviet Union, which sold Egypt large quantities of arms. The action by Britain and France, following Nasser’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal in July, was ostensibly launched to halt fighting between Egypt and Israel, which had invaded the Sinai Peninsula a week earlier. In truth, though, it marked a turning point – the end of direct actions by western powers in Africa, replaced by conflicts that spread across the continent as the west and the Soviet Union tussled for influence in newly or soon-to-be independent African nations: a proxy Cold War described as a “second scramble for Africa”. The years following the end of the Second World War saw both the start of the Cold War between the west and the eastern bloc, and the break-up of empires as colonies across Africa and Asia strove for independence. Africans were losers in the Cold War. The big players never fought each other head-on, but instead sponsored wars between their clients in Africa (and, indeed, in Asia) so that large swathes of the continent became war zones in which predominately locally recruited soldiers did the fighting. Liberation movements across southern Africa were sustained by the Soviet Union and Cuba, which sent large contingents of troops to support independence fi…

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Are revolutions doomed to failure?
type: item
date: 2021-07-16T08:44:12.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Victorian
subject: Period
subject: Communism
description: After the end of communist rule in eastern Europe and the break-up of the Soviet Union, many observers suggested that revolutions never really achieve their objectives. But how do we judge the long-term outcome of such endeavours - and have any been truly successful? Six historians debate the legacies of major revolts and uprisings
encoded: Charles Townshend Revolution has meant many things – except perhaps its literal meaning: a full-circle return to a previous state. In the modern world it has meant change, usually dramatic and rapid, often accelerated by violence. It has been applied to sudden seizures of power, but also to vast processes such as industrialisation and technological development. (The United States even called its development of so-called ‘smart weapons’ the Revolution in Military Affairs.) Variations in meaning bear directly on the issue of success or failure. In ‘palace revolutions’ (sometimes mistakenly labelled coups d’état), in which one general might seize power from another, the issue has been resolved after a short military clash. But such revolutions cause little change, beyond that of the Swiss bank account into which the proceeds of political power are transferred. Revolutions that have attempted to transform whole societies – the great French, Russian and Chinese uprisings – have far-reaching, complex and maybe contradictory effects that work themselves out over very long periods of time. Because of this, success and failure can be hard to calibrate. Did the French Revolution fail? That’s certainly what Beethoven thought when he struck out the dedication of his Eroica symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte – but Bonaparte was a child of the revolution, and his dictatorship was a world away from the Bourbon monarchy. After the revolution, power derived from the nation, not God; democracy was built into it. Though many French people today see the revolution as a bloodstained disaster, they still hold to the ‘republican values’ it established. A century ago, the Irish revolution promised not just to free Ireland from British rule, but to remake it as a new Gaelic society. This carried a price: partition, confining independence to 26 out of 32 Irish counties. Yet its centrepiece, the revival of the language, was never achieved, even if it still complicates the politics of Northern Ire…

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The Cold War battle for Berlin
type: item
date: 2021-06-29T11:37:34.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Cold War
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Communism
description: Giles Milton reveals how the German capital became the frontline in a bitter diplomatic conflict between the western Allies and the Soviet Union in the wake of the Second World War
encoded: Any illusions that the wartime entente between the western Allies and the Soviet Union would flourish in the new postwar world were shattered when the two sides came face to face on the streets of Berlin in the summer of 1945. Author Giles Milton reveals how spiralling tensions between Josef Stalin and his counterparts in the west over the fate of the German capital fired the starting gun on the Cold War. Giles Milton is the author of Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown that Shaped the Modern World (John Murray, 2021) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Waterstones Buy now on Amazon

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