https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/blog Essays on the First and Second World Wars by historian Michael Baker. en-GB https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/the-general-who-was-france https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/the-general-who-was-france Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 Two new French films revisit De Gaulle’s wartime leadership. How did a junior general with no army come to embody France itself? https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/traitors-or-patriots https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/traitors-or-patriots Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 Both world wars were fought by empires, not nation states: conflicts fuelled as much by ethnic and ideological civil strife as by great-power rivalry. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/anne-frank-the-dutch-and-the-jews https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/anne-frank-the-dutch-and-the-jews Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 On 6 July 1942 the Frank family went into hiding in Amsterdam. What triggered it, and what it reveals about the Dutch and the deportations. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/pear-drops-and-poison https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/pear-drops-and-poison Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now As Ukraine’s war matches the length of WW1, the comparison with the Western Front’s attritional stalemate grows sharper. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/little-boy-and-fat-man https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/little-boy-and-fat-man Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now Iran’s nuclear programme sits at the heart of today’s conflict. A look back at the only two atomic bombs ever used in war. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/blame-the-top-brass https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/blame-the-top-brass Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW1 The British narrative of the First World War fixes on the war dead. Were the generals really to blame for the casualty rates? https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/how-wars-end https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/how-wars-end Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now Neither Kyiv nor Moscow will compromise. What the two world wars tell us about how bitter conflicts finally end. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/who-s-holocaust https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/who-s-holocaust Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 The term ‘The Holocaust’ only entered public discourse in the 1970s and ’80s. Why that matters for how we remember. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/how-long-s-a-war https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/how-long-s-a-war Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now By January 2026 the war in Ukraine had lasted 1,418 days, as long as the German–Soviet war on the Eastern Front. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/carrying-the-torch https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/carrying-the-torch Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 November 1942: the first joint Anglo-American landings of the war came not in Europe but in Vichy French North Africa. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/death-by-numbers-1 https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/death-by-numbers-1 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now Russia’s staggering losses in Ukraine, set against its other wars of the modern era. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/united-we-stand-divided-we https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/united-we-stand-divided-we Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 Eighty years after its founding in 1945, the United Nations assembles amid signs of deep division. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/apocalypse-on-the-vistula https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/apocalypse-on-the-vistula Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 August 1944: the tragedy of the Warsaw Uprising, played out on the banks of the Vistula. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/tokyo-endgame-no-surrender-but https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/tokyo-endgame-no-surrender-but Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 As VJ Day turns 80, the manner of, and motive for, Japan’s surrender is still debated. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/summer-madness https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/summer-madness Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW1 Europe’s recurrent heatwaves recall an earlier, fateful summer. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/bombs-away https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/bombs-away Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now Drones over Ukraine and the Middle East have transformed bombing. The strategic arguments echo the past. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/china-syndrome https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/china-syndrome Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 Given China’s prominence today, its early history at the United Nations comes as a surprise. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/ve-day-third-time-lucky https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/ve-day-third-time-lucky Sat, 10 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 Why does Moscow mark VE Day on 9 May? The answer lies in Germany’s not-quite-single surrender. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/carry-on-up-the-elbe https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/carry-on-up-the-elbe Fri, 25 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker WW2 25 April 1945: American and Red Army soldiers meet for the first time on the banks of the Elbe. https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/from-prussia-to-russia https://www.unknownwarriorspod.co.uk/post/from-prussia-to-russia Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Baker Then & Now Kaliningrad, Russia’s Baltic exclave and missile base, has a long and contested history.