HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-11-03T09:01:03.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Terror in the deep: how Hitler's U-boats pushed Britain to the brink
items: When and why did the US get involved in WW2?
items: Conspiracy: was Pearl Harbor an inside job?
items: Pearl Harbor episode 5: Chaos unleashed
items: Pearl Harbor episode 4: The day of the attack
items: Pearl Harbor aftermath: the fallout from the attack
items: Alternate history: what if Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor?
items: Why December 1941 was the most important month of the Second World War
items: Pearl Harbor episode 3: Countdown to the raid
items: Pearl Harbor episode 2: America on the eve of war

Terror in the deep: how Hitler's U-boats pushed Britain to the brink
type: item
date: 2025-11-03T09:00:20.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Historical events
subject: Naval battles
subject: Second World War battles
description: Did German U-boats conduct a ‘clean’ campaign during the Second World War? Or were they guilty of routinely murdering survivors in the water? Roger Moorhouse weighs the evidence
encoded: On the night of 13 March 1944, the Greek-registered steamship SS Peleus was en route from Freetown to Buenos Aires when she was hit amidships by two torpedoes, launched by a German U-boat, U-852. The twin-masted merchantman, of around 5,000 tons, swiftly began to sink, her internal bulkheads ruptured by the detonations. Within three minutes, the Peleus disappeared below the surface, leaving the surviving members of her 39-strong crew clinging to rafts and flotsam in the darkness. As sinkings go during the naval war, it was unremarkable, one might even say routine. But what followed would set it apart. Soon after, U-852 surfaced close to the debris field, hoping to identify her prey and glean some information. Her captain, 27-year-old Kapitänleutnant Heinz‑Wilhelm Eck, ordered one of his men – who spoke some English – to come up to the bow to question one of the survivors. After learning the identity of his target, Eck gave the order for U-852 to move away. But then he changed his mind. Eck was nervous. Prior to his departure from port, he had been given a lecture from his superiors on the perils of passing through the Atlantic Narrows, around Ascension, and was told that all four of the previous patrols undertaken by his predecessors had ended with the vessels being sunk. Due to the heightened risk of air attack he was urged to take every precaution to avoid being spotted by enemy aircraft. Even debris from a sinking, it was stressed, could give away his position. Calculating that he could be only some 200 miles away by daybreak, when the wreckage of the Peleus would doubtless be spotted, he made the decision to attempt to destroy the debris. He brought a party of his men up on deck and ordered them to open fire on the rafts and other debris with machine guns. In the moonless night, they were largely firing blind, but the operation continued for hours, with grenades being thrown and U-852’s anti-aircraft gun even being brought to bear. The number killed by these act…

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When and why did the US get involved in WW2?
type: item
date: 2024-04-15T13:00:49.000Z
creator: Professor Evan Mawdsley
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Evergreen
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy D-Day and the Normandy Campaign course
description: For two years before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into World War II in December 1941, the nation had been on the edges of the global conflict. Professor Evan Mawdsley explores the arguments that were made for intervention or isolation, and examines President Roosevelt’s steps towards war…
encoded: The United States of America officially declared its involvement in WW2 in December 1941, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December. In his famous “Day of Infamy” speech before Congress on 8 December, President Franklin D Roosevelt called for a declaration of war against Japan – crucially, Roosevelt did not also declare against Adolf Hitler's Germany. In this way Germany and Italy were manoeuvred into taking the first step, declaring war on 11 December 1941. However, the USA's road to WW2 had much longer roots than the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the government under Roosevelt had supported the Allies long before 1941. Here, Professor Evan Mawdsley shares in detail why and how the United States of America became involved in the conflict, the arguments against the USA's involvement in the 'European War', and why they remained neutral as the 1940s began… What was the initial involvement of the USA in WW1, compared to WW2? The beginning of WW1 was simpler than the beginning of WW2. August 1914 saw a ‘big bang’ outbreak, with the five most powerful major European powers thrown immediately into conflict. September 1939 was the beginning of a war between only three major European powers (Britain, France and Germany). They were followed in June 1940 by Italy, in June 1941 by Russia, and in December 1941 by Japan and the USA – though the conflict as a whole had actually began in July 1937 with war between China and Japan. The American entry into World War I was also simpler than the American entry into World War II. By 1917 there was only limited opposition to taking part in the conflict. In April President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, largely in response to Berlin’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare (sinking merchant ships without warning). The declaration was passed by 82 votes to 6 in the Senate, and by 373 to 50 in the House of Representatives. But the neutral USA entered World War II only after many months …

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Conspiracy: was Pearl Harbor an inside job?
type: item
date: 2024-02-15T07:33:39.000Z
creator: Rob Attar
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Journalist Steve Twomey explores the conspiracy theory that suggests President Roosevelt had advance knowledge of the surprise Japanese attack
encoded: On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. It's one of the most notorious surprise attacks in history, but how much of a surprise was it? Did US President Franklin Roosevelt in fact know that the attack was coming and even encourage it as a means of propelling the US into World War Two? In this new episode of Conspiracy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Twomey joins Rob Attar to tackle the "back door to war" conspiracy theory, explaining why many Americans have been willing to believe in a president's treachery. View Green Video on the source website

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Pearl Harbor episode 5: Chaos unleashed
type: item
date: 2021-12-21T16:10:25.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Pearl Harbor podcast series
description: In the final episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne speaks to Robert Lyman about the attack’s immediate aftermath and long term legacy
encoded: In the final episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne speaks to Robert Lyman about the attack’s immediate aftermath and long term legacy, charting the chaos the Japanese offensive unleashed and tracing events through to the present day. Download as MP3 Want to hear more? Browse the rest of the episodes in our podcast series on Pearl Harbor

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Pearl Harbor episode 4: The day of the attack
type: item
date: 2021-12-14T12:41:15.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Pearl Harbor podcast series
description: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne and Gavin Mortimer chart how the attack unfolded on 7 December 1941, sharing the stories and eyewitness accounts of those involved, from Japanese pilots and US navy pe...
encoded: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Ellie Cawthorne and Gavin Mortimer chart how the attack unfolded on 7 December 1941, sharing the stories and eyewitness accounts of those involved, from Japanese pilots and US navy personnel to army nurses and top commanders. Download as MP3 Want to hear more? Browse the rest of the episodes in our podcast series on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor aftermath: the fallout from the attack
type: item
date: 2021-12-09T06:05:00.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: How public fury at Japan’s ‘sneak’ strike put an end to American isolationism and cranked the fearsome US war machine into action. Gavin Mortimer explores what happened in the USA after the attack on Pearl Harbor…
encoded: Stefanos Vasilakes was the embodiment of all that was great about the United States of America. After arriving from Greece in 1910, he had set up a hot peanuts and fresh popped corn cart on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and East Executive Avenue in Washington DC. The spot was actually White House property, but none of the occupiers minded when he sold the best peanuts in town. Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding and Roosevelt had all been customers, as had Coolidge, who described Vasilakes as his “contact man” with the American public. To reporters, Vasilakes represented the “little man” of the nation. And on the afternoon of Sunday 7 December the “little man” was livid. When the reporter from Washington’s Evening Star newspaper arrived outside the White House en route to a press conference, hastily called after news broke of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he found an agitated Vasilakes. “Steve was too excited to talk clearly,” wrote the reporter. “And about all he could say was: ‘Just three months, we finish them.’” Read more | Why didn't America see Pearl Harbor coming? The fury of Vasilakes and the rest of the US public at Japan’s ‘sneak attack’ united the country in an instant. On the Sunday afternoon, President Roosevelt met first with his cabinet and then with a delegation from the House of Repres­entatives and the Senate. The next day, Congress voted on whether to sanction FDR’s wish to go to war with Japan, and only the pacifist Jeannette Rankin dissented. For that stance she was scorned by the American people, as were the few isolationists who continued to argue against involvement in armed conflict. One of the most vociferous of these prior to Pearl Harbor had been the celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh, an ardent admirer of Nazi Germany and a man who used his fame to demand that Roosevelt keep the country out of a European war. In May 1940, Lindbergh, a prominent figure in the isolationist America First Committee, had addressed the nation in a ra…

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Alternate history: what if Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor?
type: item
date: 2021-12-08T07:05:00.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Family and parenting
subject: Trends-Anniversary
description: Early in the morning of Sunday 7 December 1941, hundreds of Japanese aircraft launched a surprise assault on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400 Americans. Jonny Wilkes talks to Professor Robert Cribb about whether the United States would still have entered World War II without, as their president put it, a “date which will live in infamy”
encoded: Each month BBC History Revealed asks a historical expert for their take on what might have happened if a key moment in the past had turned out differently. This time, Jonny Wilkes talks to Professor Robert Cribb about what might had happened had Japan not bomed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 Sunday, 7 December 1941: a day that changed the course of World War II. Japan launched a daring surprise strike on the chief US naval base in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor – near Honolulu, Hawaii – killing more than 2,400 Americans and ending the United States’ policy of neutrality. The next day, Congress declared war. At the most extreme, no attack on Pearl Harbor could have meant no US entering the war, no ships of soldiers pouring over the Atlantic, and no D-Day, all putting ‘victory in Europe’ in doubt. On the other side of the world, it could have meant no Pacific Theatre and no use of the atomic bomb. This all depends on whether the US would have stayed out of the fight. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, planned in response to debilitating US economic restrictions, aimed to knock out the Pacific Fleet and crush American morale in one fell swoop. But the plan very possibly could have been shelved. “Many Japanese leaders, including Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, were keen to avoid a long war against the United States, conscious of the huge disparity in economic power between the two,” says Robert Cribb, professor in Asian history at the Australian National University. “Their preference was for agreeing [to the US demand] to wind back their presence in China in exchange for a loosening of the embargoes.” Pearl Harbor podcast series Member exclusive | Browse and listen to all episodes in our podcast series on the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor Listen to all episodes now Emperor Hirohito similarly had misgivings about going to war, so Pearl Harbor may just have been spared if he had imposed his will on his government. Without that commitment to pre-emptive military…

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Why December 1941 was the most important month of the Second World War
type: item
date: 2021-12-08T06:06:00.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Family and parenting
subject: Second World War battles
description: On 11 December 1941, Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States of America, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four days earlier. There is a strong case to be made, says historian Laurence Rees, that December 1941 was the most decisive month of the entire Second World War…
encoded: Winston Churchill instantly knew what Pearl Harbor meant for the British. He later wrote that when he heard the news that now that the United States was “in the war, up to the neck and in to the death” he felt the “greatest joy” because it meant that “we had won after all” and “England would live; Britain would live; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would live”. But while the benefits to Britain of the entry of the US into the war were clear, it is sometimes forgotten that Pearl Harbor also had an enormous impact on two other countries: Adolf Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the Soviet Union in two important ways. First, it confirmed that Japanese forces would no longer pose any foreseeable threat to the Soviet Union in the Far East. Indeed, reports two months earlier from Richard Sorge, the Soviet spy in Japan, that the Japanese intended to attack in the south rather than invade the Soviet Union, had informed Stalin’s decision to move divisions from the Siberian border to help in the defence of Moscow. In early October 1941, Vasily Borisov was a soldier in a Siberian division in the remote east of the Soviet Union where, he says, “we were expecting Japan to attack”. But on 18 October his unit received orders to board trains immediately and head west to face a different foe: “In the summer [of 1941] we knew the Germans were advancing very fast and were capturing Soviet territory and we knew they were technically more advanced than us… we knew that the situation was bad”. As they travelled towards the west, Borisov and his comrades thought “that a lot of us would be killed. We knew that the war would be hard, and that’s what it turned out to be. It was very hard… we felt fear”. But in the freezing Soviet winter, all the Germans’ technological advances counted for nothing. This was a more straightforward struggle – one in which the Red Army could compete on equal terms. And once Red Army soldiers began …

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Pearl Harbor episode 3: Countdown to the raid
type: item
date: 2021-12-07T13:35:15.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Pearl Harbor podcast series
description: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Steve Twomey speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the immediate run-up to the attack, revealing how inch-perfect Japanese planning and complacent oversights by American military figures co...
encoded: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Steve Twomey speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the immediate run-up to the attack, revealing how inch-perfect Japanese planning and complacent oversights by American military figures combined to leave Pearl Harbor naval base a sitting duck for Japanese bombers. Listen to the podcast now: Download as MP3 Want to hear more? Browse the rest of the episodes in our podcast series on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor episode 2: America on the eve of war
type: item
date: 2021-12-07T12:22:40.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Pearl Harbor podcast series
description: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Dayna Barnes speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the United States in the years and months leading up to the attack. They discuss the American perspective on the disintegrating relationsh...
encoded: In the latest episode in our new series on the raid on Pearl Harbor, Dayna Barnes speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about the United States in the years and months leading up to the attack. They discuss the American perspective on the disintegrating relationship with Japan, get to grips with US thinking on the eve of the attack, and ask: why was the American public blindsided by the Japanese raid? Listen to the podcast now: Download as MP3 Want to hear more? Browse the rest of the episodes in our podcast series on Pearl Harbor