The cartoon that came in from the cold

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Mr Kydd

Animal FarmYear Thirteen,

You may remember in the last week of the summer term we watched the 1955 cartoon version of  Animal Farm as part of your introduction to the Russian dicatorships course. What I did not realise at the time was that although a British film, it was paid for by the CIA. This article by Karl Cohen in The Guardian explains the remarkable story of how US intelligence secretly funded the landmark British movie. Animated propaganda was not of course new (it had been widely used in the Second World War), but what makes this noteworthy for me is that this was a huge box office success and critically acclaimed.

This certains helps to explain the diversion from the Orwell book. In terms of the chronology of our course, we should refelct that it would have been made when Stalin was still alive, when the Korean War was still raging, and before Khrushchev started to speak of peaceful co-existance.

Maybe it is worth rewatching it with this iinformation in our heads.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in history in the news, Political cartoons | Comments Off on The cartoon that came in from the cold

Is the face in the crowd really a young Adolf Hitler’s?

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Mr Kydd

hitler_2728860cMost of you will have seen this picture before. It shows the declaration of war in 1914, featuring what appears to be a young Adolf Hitler. The photograph was used by the Nazis to illustrate Hitler’s life-long loyalty to Germany. However, this letter to the Daily Telegraph from Dr Sean Lang from Anglia Ruskin University suggests that there are serious questions about its authenticity.

He argues “photographs of Hitler taken during the war show him with a large moustache, of the sort that was in fashion at the time. The practice of shaving moustaches down to a “toothbrush” shape seems to have been introduced during the war to allow men to wear gas masks more comfortably; the fashion was unknown before 1914.

If the photograph is correct, then Hitler, almost alone in Europe, wore a toothbrush moustache in 1914, grew a big moustache during the war, and then went back to a toothbrush style after the war, none of which seems very likely”.

Have a look for yourself and see what you think.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in history in the news | Comments Off on Is the face in the crowd really a young Adolf Hitler’s?

What should the historian think about the death of Nelson Mandela ?

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Mr Kydd

MandelaWell the obvious answer to that is it is up to you. Moreover, many of you will have a clear understanding  of what Nelson Mandela did to destroy Apartheid from your GCSE coursework. 

Yet, since studying Mandela, you will have moved to you A Level studies, and can reflect that today most historians prefer to consider the roles of ideas (such as nationalism and economics) rather than the works of great men. Think for example about the role of Garibaldi in the unification of Italy. Today perhaps only Mikhail Gorbachev could come close to Mandela in having a reputation for fulfilling that idea of a great individual who changed the world for his role in ending the Cold War in a peaceful way.

Perhaps it is too soon to dispasionately answer the question. What is certainly unquestionable is few people now alive will ever be as loved as  Nelson Mandela. You may also like to watch this excellent BBC review of his life.

Click the hyperlinks to see what you think.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in history in the news, Obituaries | Comments Off on What should the historian think about the death of Nelson Mandela ?

Coursework Source booklet

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Mr Kydd

ColdWar_411Year Thirteen,

As requested, please find the coursework source booklet here

Miss Bee, Mr Taylor and Mrs Rayner.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Coursework Source booklet

Presenting the Past – How the Media Changes History

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Mr Kydd

Presenting the pastOr, as those of us at the History Society on Tuesday reflected when we discussed teh Battle of the Somme – the Blackadder effect. This BBC Radio 4 programme discusses the relationship between the past and the media.

The programme discription states “change has swept through the way history is presented to the public. Programmes, films and books dealing with the past used to emphasise authority and accuracy as their great strengths. While those elements are still valued, argues historian and broadcaster Juliet Gardiner, the over-riding aim now has become to present an authentic view of the past. But how is that achieved? And what happens when the desire for authenticity conflicts with the facts?

Drawing on her role as an historical adviser on television programmes, feature films and to writers of historical fiction over the years, Juliet Gardiner shows how directors, writers and producers achieve authenticity in their work and how this affects the history we see, read and hear. She also lifts the veil on behind-the-scenes tensions and disagreements over how far the facts should be bent to achieve the precious authentic feel.”

Have a listen, and see what you think.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment, historians, history in the news | Comments Off on Presenting the Past – How the Media Changes History

The Invention of Italy

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Mr Kydd

ItalySomething (mainly) to support AS students with their document work. BBC Radio 4 are in the process of running a three part series on Italian Unification called  The Invention of Italy. Episode two was on tonight, and appears to be most useful to us as it takes the narrative from Napoleon to Garibaldi.

The programme description states;

In October 1860, on a misty road north of Naples, Giuseppe Garibaldi met the future king of Italy and handed over control of the south. This brief moment in the story of the new Italian state has been often mythologised, but it is not as straightforward as it seems. Violence, civil war, the birth of the mafia – these elements in the story are often overlooked.

Beginning with Napoleon’s call to the peoples of Italy in 1796, Misha Glenny picks his way through Italian unification with clarity and care. Rome only became part of this new European country under a century and a half ago – and even then the Pope ordered his followers neither to stand in nor vote in elections for the new state. Small wonder some claim that Italy is not really unified yet.

With expert contributions from Christopher Duggan, Marco Meriggi, Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Filippo de Vivo, David Gilmour, Beppe Severgnini, Simon Winder, Joze Serbec and David Laven.

Have a listen and see what you think.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment, history in the news | Comments Off on The Invention of Italy

Timewatch

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Mr Kydd

cy1y-30fdaevx6cxl-lguowOne of the things that I hope to achieve with this section of the heathenhistory website is to bring you into contact with aspects of the past that are not taught in the classroom. For this, the BBC history series – Timewatch – is perfect. Each week it looks at a different topic, and in this way, past programmes can be an excellent introduction into matters as diverse as Hadrian’s Wall, the gunpowder plot and the iron age bog bodies.

If you click here you can get sample clips that might interest you. Many of the full episodes are available on Youtube here.

Enjoy,

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment | Comments Off on Timewatch

Black History Month

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Mr Kydd

blackhistoryWitness: Black History

For Black History Month, you may like to listen to interviews with people who were there at key moments in civil rights history, from Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech, to surviving Robben Island with Nelson Mandela.

These programmes are taken from the BBC World Service programme Witness, 2009 – 2013 and can be found by clicking here.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment, history in the news | 1 Comment

History enrichment – Elizabeth and her people exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Mr Kydd

NATPG011_P0250EDelizabethJkt.inddThe National Portrait Gallery in London is running an exhibition entitled Elizabeth I and her people this Autumn. In their words the aim is to explore “the story of the Elizabethans from the Queen, the nobility and gentry to the many other talented individuals such as explorers, soldiers, merchants, artists and writers”. Click here for directions, and here to watch curator Tarnya Cooper introduce the exhibition. If you click here you can play the “Who do you think you were ?” game to find out where you would have been in Elizabethan society.

To find out more about Elizabeth society you should also come to History Society next Tuesday when I will be showing the Court episode of Ian Mortimer’s Time traveller’s guide to Elizabethan England. This was the BBC adaptation of the excellent book. There will be cake.

If you have never visited an art gallery then the National Portrait Gallery is a great place to start. It is a very special place, and it is free (although the exhibition itself is £11.50). It is full of surprises, and it is only round the corner from Mr Woo’s Chinese Restaurant – all you can eat for £5.50.

Tudors and Chinese – what more could you want from half term ?

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment | Comments Off on History enrichment – Elizabeth and her people exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Lord Castlereagh: Europe’s forgotten father ?

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Mr Kydd

castlereagh-1

Lord Castlereagh, was one of the most successful and controversial political figures his day. He was a master diplomat, noted as the architect of the 1801 Act of Union that brought Ireland under the control of Westminster, and as a key figure in the defeat of Napoleon. You have probably come across him when you studied the Congress of Vienna.You may also know about his terrible death.

Click  here for a super BBC audio slideshow on his life by Brian Henry Martin and Ian Knox. They have also collaborated on a documentary that tries to understand the brutal actions of this flawed and forgotten political colossus.

Mr Kydd.

Posted in Enrichment | Comments Off on Lord Castlereagh: Europe’s forgotten father ?