Politics

Human society is always surrounded by politics of some sort. Whether it is the basic negotiation of leadership and obedience of rules for clans or soldiers or, the more sophisticated set up of the modern world the relationship of control and decision making is always around. Grouped together in this strand are articles and podcasts covering the systems of the ancient world in Greece and Rome, alongside the stories of revolution in Europe, the creation of treaties and alliances and the arguments amongst political parties today.

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  • Film: Brezhnev's agenda

    Article

    In this film Dr Edwin Bacon talks about Brezhnev’s change in direction and approach after Khruschev, making collective leadership work and the Kosygin reforms. Whilst there were changes from the era of Khruschev, Brezhnev’s response to the Prague Spring in 1968 showed that some things had not changed. The events...

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  • Film: Brezhnev's early life and career

    Article

    In this film Dr Edwin Bacon takes us through Brezhnev’s early life and career: his birth in Ukraine in 1906, the opportunities brought by the revolution, his role in the battle of Ukraine and his eventual arrival to the Politburo at the end of the 1950s. Dr Bacon looks at...

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  • Film: Brezhnev's legacy

    Article

    In this film Dr Edwin Bacon looks back at Brezhnev’s 18 years and how is has been described as an era of stagnation, producing an appetite for change from younger leaders such as Mikail Gorbachev. Dr Bacon reflects that this was a period of relative peace, stability and predictability which...

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  • Film: Discussion: Historical memory of key individuals in the Civil Rights Movement

    Article

    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. This section reflects on how the past is portrayed...

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  • Film: Discussion: Key organisations in the Civil Rights Movement

    Article

    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. During the Civil Rights campaigns period in the 1960s key...

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  • Film: Discussion: The post Civil Rights era

    Article

    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...

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  • Film: Discussion: The significance of individuals, presidents and communities to the Civil Rights Movement

    Article

    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 film individual civil rights campaigners' actions are discussed...

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  • Film: Discussion: The significance of the federal government to the Civil Rights Movement

    Article

    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. Starting with the actions of the Supreme Court especially the...

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  • Film: Discussion: What global events influenced the Civil Rights Movement?

    Article

    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. The Civil Rights movement in the US was affected...

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  • Film: Domestic Politics and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, discuss the impact that domestic politics and rebellion had on Tudor Royal Authority and the development of domestic policy.

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  • Film: Edward VI and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, looks at the reign of Edward VI and examines the impact his youth had to his authority, the importance of advisers in shaping his rule and the significance of religion and foreign relations in defining his legacy.

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  • Film: Elizabeth I and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film, Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford, looks at the two main challenges to Elizabeth I's authority: gender and religion. Professor Doran looks at the power of Elizabeth's personality, her relationship with her advisers plus the significance of religion and domestics politics to shaping her reign and...

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  • Film: Foreign Relations and Tudor Royal Authority – discussion

    Article

    In this film Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford and Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford discuss the role foreign relations played in Tudor royal authority and the amount of power Tudor monarchs were able to exercise. The film will explore common threads and differences in foreign policy...

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  • Film: From Khrushchev to Brezhnev

    Article

    In this film Dr Edwin Bacon reflects upon the instability of the Khrushchev era and how Brezhnev positioned himself as the perfect replacement for a Soviet Communist party desperate for stability in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis. Brezhnev would be the first amongst equals looking to move forward...

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  • Film: Henry VII and Tudor Royal Authority

    Article

    In this film Professor Steven Gunn, Merton College, University of Oxford, looks at the life and reign of Henry VII and examines the role and significance of religion, foreign relations, domestic politics and the nobility on Henry's establishment of the Tudor dynasty.

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  • Film: Key Personalities and Opposition

    Article

    Professor Matthew Stibbe examines the key political leaders of West and East Germany and how their decisions and responses to political events shaped their international relationships and the lives of the divided German population under their control. He also looks at the opposition and resistance these governments faced domestically during...

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  • Film: Key individuals in the African-American Civil Rights Movement

    Article

    The African-American Civil Rights Movement involved many significant individuals, some prominent and some less so. In this film, Professor Brian Ward and Professor Joe Street of Northumbria University look at the role, significance and legacy of three key figures in the movement: Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X and Rosa...

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  • Film: Khrushchev - Background

    Article

    In this film, Dr Alexander Titov (Queen's University of Belfast), provides a profile of Khrushchev’s background and personality and how these influenced his politics and ideas. Dr Titov takes us on a journey from Khrushchev's peasant beginnings in Kursk, his rapid rise in the communist party, his role in the purges, to...

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  • Film: Lenin and the 1917 Revolutions

    Article

    You wait a lifetime for a revolution and then two come along at once! Such was 1917 in Russia. As the world seemed in chaos and Russia and the Russian people began to collapse, Lenin and the Bolsheviks saw their opportunity and overthrew the government to create the first communist...

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  • Film: Lenin and the Russian Civil War

    Article

    Revolution is never simple. Lenin and the Bolsheviks quickly found that not everyone in Russia or outside of it approved of their new radical agenda. Russia was plunged into a civil war of devastating circumstances. How would its new leader manage and how much were the needs of the people...

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