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                                                                                The Duchy of Courland and a Baltic colonial venture across the ocean
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    The Duchy of Courland’s attempts to establish outposts in the Caribbean and Africa were not the only Baltic ventures across the Atlantic during the seventeenth century. However, the expeditions of the small vassal dukedom were possibly the most unlikely. The article introduces the motivations behind the Couronian colonial project, as...
                                    The Duchy of Courland and a Baltic colonial venture across the ocean
                                 
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                                                                                From Lithuania to Lancashire: life and death in the pursuit of freedom
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    In this article, Simon Bromiley explores the history of twentieth-century Lithuania through the life of his grandfather. He experienced much of its difficult history, including the Soviet annexation of 1940 and the German invasion and occupation of the following year. The article follows him as he made a new life for himself in...
                                    From Lithuania to Lancashire: life and death in the pursuit of freedom
                                 
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                                                                                Film: Why does the massacre of the Armenians in the First World War still get overlooked?
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Virtual Branch
                                                                            
                                    Why is the term 'Armenian Genocide' controversial, with many countries still not acknowledging a genocide at all? What do we know about the event of 1915 and the plight of the Armenian community in Turkey? How can we grapple with a history that many people want to forget? In this...
                                    Film: Why does the massacre of the Armenians in the First World War still get overlooked?
                                 
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                                                                                The Cromwell Discussions: podcast series
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    The Cromwell Association round-table discussions
                                                                            
                                    On the 30th June 2015, The Cromwell Association, held a series of round table discussions at Selwyn College, Cambridge.
This set of podcasts feature Professor Ronald Hutton of the University of Bristol, Professor John Morrill and Dr David Smith of the University of Cambridge and Dr Patrick Little from the...
                                    The Cromwell Discussions: podcast series
                                 
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                                                                                Cartoons and the historian
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    Many historical books contain cartoons, but in most cases these are little more than a relief from the text, and do not make any point of substance which is not made elsewhere. Political cartoons should be regarded as much more than that. They are an important historical source which often...
                                    Cartoons and the historian
                                 
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                                                                                The experience of Bilston in the cholera epidemic of 1831–32
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    Alannah Tomkins introduces a well-chronicled early example of how a local community dealt with cholera.
In September 1832 James Holmes, the governor of the workhouse at Bilston in Staffordshire wrote a letter to the salaried parish overseer of Uttoxeter. The initial impetus for the letter came from the two parishes’ shared interest...
                                    The experience of Bilston in the cholera epidemic of 1831–32
                                 
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                                                                                Out and About: the central Marches of Wales and the Mortimer family of Wigmore
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian feature
                                                                            
                                    Paul Dryburgh and Philip Hume enable us to see the interaction of one prominent family with the area that they dominated.
The central Marches span the English/Welsh border in an area that encompasses the picturesque landscapes and market towns of north-west Herefordshire, south-west Shropshire, and Radnorshire which has also the rugged...
                                    Out and About: the central Marches of Wales and the Mortimer family of Wigmore
                                 
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                                                                                My great-grandfather and the Italian Campaign
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    This remarkable item by a student at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield was the winning Young Historian entry in the Key Stage 3 Spirit of Normandy Trust category in 2022.
I’ve always known my great-grandfather fought in the Second World War, but never like this. When he left the army, he never...
                                    My great-grandfather and the Italian Campaign
                                 
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                                                                                Real Lives: Surviving the War in the Soviet Union: recollections of a child deportee
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian feature
                                                                            
                                    This 'Real Lives' piece is based on a series of interviews Annette Ormanczyk carried out in 2019 with Mrs Irena Persak, who was deported as a five-year-old child with her family in February 1940. As well as offering a fascinating personal account of life in the Soviet Union during the Second...
                                    Real Lives: Surviving the War in the Soviet Union: recollections of a child deportee
                                 
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                                                                                My Favourite History Place: The Chantry Chapel of St Mary on Wakefield Bridge
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian feature
                                                                            
                                    Wakefield Bridge Chapel, by the River Calder, is thought by many to be the finest of four bridge chantries, the others being Bradford-on-Avon, Derby and Rotherham. The chapel at Wakefield was originally founded and endowed by the people of Wakefield and district between 1342 and 1359.
In 1397 Edmund de Langley,...
                                    My Favourite History Place: The Chantry Chapel of St Mary on Wakefield Bridge
                                 
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                                                                                Film: Discussion: The post Civil Rights era
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Film series: The African-American Civil Rights Movement
                                                                            
                                    Professor Tony Badger, Professor Joe Street and Professor Brian Ward discuss the African-American Civil Rights movement and examine different ways we might interpret the significance of key individuals, groups, institutions and events that played a role in its development and progress.
In this final section the activities of the key individuals...
                                    Film: Discussion: The post Civil Rights era
                                 
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                                                                                My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian feature
                                                                            
                                    Military history enthusiast David Wilson writes about why the Berlin Wall is still such an important symbol and reminder.
I first visited Berlin in the mid 1980s when I was stationed in Germany as part of the British Army. It was an interesting place to go because until then the Cold...
                                    My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
                                 
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                                                                                The throne and the fairy tellers
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    Fairy tale princesses and mysterious castles are just part of the way that historically story tellers have been connected to royalty. In this article some of the most famous story tellers are discussed with their royal patronage and experiences.
Hans Christian Andersen couldn’t believe his luck. In 1854, he was...
                                    The throne and the fairy tellers
                                 
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                                                                                England Arise! The General Election of 1945
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    ‘The past week will live in history for two things’, announced the Sunday Times of 29 July 1945, ‘first the return of a Labour majority to Parliament and the end of Churchill's great war Premiership.’ Most other newspapers concurred. The Daily Mirror, of 27 July, proclaimed that the 1945 general election...
                                    England Arise! The General Election of 1945
                                 
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                                                                                The People's Pensions
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Recorded lecture
                                                                            
                                    Why did the British get pensions when they did? What part did the great social surveys (Booth and Rowntree) play? Was there something rotten at the heart of Empire? What part did fears of a Red Peril play? Was Britain slow, with Bismarck and even the Tsar providing some measures of...
                                    The People's Pensions
                                 
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                                                                                The Nation of the Scots and the Declaration of Arbroath
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Classic Pamphlet
                                                                            
                                    This pamphlet seeks to chart the progress of the Scottish struggle for independence after 1291 by considering the changing nature of the Scottish resistance. The primary sources are exiguous when compared to those bearing upon the English attempt at subjugation, and the interpretation offered is at best tentative: that initially...
                                    The Nation of the Scots and the Declaration of Arbroath
                                 
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                                                                                How is the source base of the twentieth century different from that of earlier periods?
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Article
                                                                            
                                    Historians often debate when, exactly, the twentieth century began; that is, when the themes and trends that we have come to understand as defining this tumultuous, rapidly changing period first started, and when they ended. One place we can look to answer this question is the available primary resources that help...
                                    How is the source base of the twentieth century different from that of earlier periods?
                                 
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                                                                                Podcast Series: The Women's Movement
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Multipage Article
                                                                            
                                    In Part 2 of our series on Social and Political Change in the UK 1800-present we look at the Women's Movement in the UK from its early origins through to the end of the 20th century
Part 2 features Dr Anne Logan, Professor June Hannam and Ms Jean Spence.
Also...
                                    Podcast Series: The Women's Movement
                                 
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                                                                                The Memory of a Saint: Managing the legacy of St Bernard of Clairvaux
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    When Bernard of Clairvaux died in 1153, the Cistercian Order was faced with a problem. The self-proclaimed ‘chimera of his age’ had enjoyed an unusual and varied monastic career, as abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux and papal confidante, making him remarkably well-known for a monk. At the funeral the...
                                    The Memory of a Saint: Managing the legacy of St Bernard of Clairvaux
                                 
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                                                                                History Abridged: Language and the African continent
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian feature
                                                                            
                                    
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
Africa is a huge continent...
                                    History Abridged: Language and the African continent
                                 
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                                                                                Eyam: the plague village 1665-66
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    Richard Stone explores the self-sacrifice of a Seventeenth Century village during an epidemic.
History shows us these ‘unprecedented times’ are not that far from previous historical experiences. Lockdown, quarantine, self-isolation, ‘second wave’, ‘third wave’, airborne disease, churches closed; the Covid-19 experience resonates with the plight of the villagers of Eyam, three-and-a-half centuries...
                                    Eyam: the plague village 1665-66
                                 
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                                                                                The Versailles Peace Settlement
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Classic Pamphlet
                                                                            
                                    This classic pamphlet takes you through the Paris Peace Conference and the 'German Question', Peacemaking and the Treaty of Versailles, Europe and the German question after Versailles.
                                    The Versailles Peace Settlement
                                 
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                                                                                Recorded webinar series: The Olympic Games
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Culture and political impact across the twentieth century
                                                                            
                                    2024 was an Olympic Games year. Held every four years (with the exception of during the World Wars and Covid-19 restrictions), the modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event in the world. However, historically it has not always been just the sports that are played and the athletes’ performances...
                                    Recorded webinar series: The Olympic Games
                                 
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                                                                                Fake news: Psy-war and propaganda in the Indonesian Genocide of 1965-66
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    Geoffrey Robinson explores a little-known episode of the Cold War where half a million people were killed and the Indonesian communist party was destroyed, aided and abetted by the major Western Powers.
Amidst all the talk of fake news and Russian meddling in US politics, it is easy to lose...
                                    Fake news: Psy-war and propaganda in the Indonesian Genocide of 1965-66
                                 
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                                                                                Podcast Series: The Byzantine Empire
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Byzantium
                                                                            
                                    In this podcast Dr Dionysios Stathakopoulos of King's College London looks at the history of the Byzantine Empire from its origins in the Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
                                    Podcast Series: The Byzantine Empire