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It’s the summer of 1953, and, across East Germany, angry people take to the streets.

This isn’t a polite street protest.

This is a furious, red flag ripping, police beating, office burning rampage.

The crowds demand:

- better living conditions;

- the reunification of Germany; and

- free elections.

Instead, they would get:

- Trabants;

- the Berlin Wall; and

- another 35 years of hardline Communist government.

Could the 17 June 1953 uprising have ever been successful at bringing down Soviet-dominated eastern Europe?

Or were the people’s protests doomed to fail before they even started?

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Music credits

The theme music is Newsroom by Riot.

The other music featured in this episode was Cylinder Seven and The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch, both by Chris Zabriskie and Sunset by Kai Engel. All tracks are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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According to Field Marshal Montgomery, rule number one on the first page of the book of war is ‘do not march on Moscow’.

In April 1945, Winston Churchill ordered the British Chiefs of Staff to rip up the rule book and plan for an attack on their wartime ally, Russia.

It was audacious, inconceivable and incredibly risky.

So, fittingly, it was codenamed Operation Unthinkable.

Just how close did we come to launching the Third World War in 1945?

Do you like the podcast?

Please rate or review the podcast and share it with friends. On iTunes, this takes a couple of steps but it is the best way to help me reach a wider audience.

1. Search for Vaguely Interesting History on the Podcast app.

2. Tap the podcast artwork under the Podcasts heading (the red and white logo).

3. Tap reviews and leave a star rating or, even better, add a review as well!

Music credits

The theme music is Newsroom by Riot.

The other music featured in this episode was Cylinder Seven and The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch, both by Chris Zabriskie and Sunset by Kai Engel. All tracks are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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In August of 1216, the King of Scotland rode down the entire length of England to pay homage to a new English king at Dover.

The Scottish monarch bent his knee to a warrior prince who was the pride and hope of his dynasty.

His name was Louis and he was the eldest son of the King of France. Louis is overlooked in most lists of English monarchs. But he was, at this point in time, in control of two-thirds of the country and had the support of the majority of its barons.

At Lincoln, he had a chance to win a great victory and secure his claim to the throne.

This is a rich story with a cast that includes a septuagenarian warrior, a fighting monk, a nine-year old boy king and a fearsome Châtelaine who defied a whole army.

But most of all, it is about a battle that could have gone either way.

Do you like the podcast?

Please rate or review the podcast and share it with friends. On iTunes, this takes a couple of steps but it is the best way to help me reach a wider audience.

1. Search for Vaguely Interesting History on the Podcast app.

2. Tap the podcast artwork under the Podcasts heading (the red and white logo).

3. Tap reviews and leave a star rating or, even better, add a review as well!

Music credits

The theme music is Newsroom by Riot.

The other music featured in this episode was Oecumene Sleep and Realness by Kai Engel, Everybodys Got Problems That Aren't Mine by Chris Zabriskie and Fog and Waves by Sergey Cheremisinov. They are all licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)