Episodes
Monday Aug 19, 2019
The Silent Service: A History of Submarine Warfare
Monday Aug 19, 2019
Monday Aug 19, 2019
Deep in the ocean stalks a hidden hunter, virtually undetected and silent. Within, its crew works away, cramped, having not seen the sun in weeks. The crew drives blind through the depths, with only a pinging sonar available to aid navigation. They lay down there, waiting for the possibility to strike.
Submarines have had a long history behind them, one which is seldom talked about except for blockbuster films from Das Boot to Hunt for Red October. Today, Pan Historia dives into a brief, but detailed history of Submarine Warfare.
Outro: In the Navy by The Village People
Monday Jul 01, 2019
The Road to Confederation: Canada Day Special
Monday Jul 01, 2019
Monday Jul 01, 2019
In 1864, delegates from the Maritime Colonies and the Province of Canada met in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to discuss proposals to create a union to better British North America's economic and defensive strength. By the end, the groundworks for a new country were born. A further two conferences and a Royal Assent later, Canada was born on July 1, 1867. The story behind its creation is not well known, even those living in it. There, Pan Historia is proud to present the story of Confederation.
Happy Canada Day!
Music:
God Save the Queen (Royal Anthem)
O Canada! (National Anthem)
Monday May 27, 2019
I Know the Devil Exists: The Rwandan Genocide
Monday May 27, 2019
Monday May 27, 2019
“I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.”
–Roméo Dallaire
Even today, the countries of Africa are in their youth. Yet, already, the continent has seen more than enough violence in the 50 years since decolonization. The scars from European rule run deep, and continue to cause untold hardship. By far, the most well know scar rests on Rwanda, a small country in Central-East Africa in the great lakes region. Tensions between the Tutsi and Hutu population had grown significantly since its independence, and a civil war began in the late 1980s between the predominant Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front and the predominant Hutu government. A peace compromise as eventually negotiated in 1993, and the UN stepped in to observe the ceasefire. However, the peace would be destroyed in a plane crash, and result in the worst genocide the world had seen since the Holocaust.
Immediately after the crash, the radios across Rwanda had one message:
"Cut the tall trees!"
Music:
Ne Me Laisse Pas Seule Ici from Hotel Rwanda
Things Fall Apart by Philanthrope
Monday Apr 29, 2019
RMS Titanic, the Ship of Dreams
Monday Apr 29, 2019
Monday Apr 29, 2019
Titanic was a ship who truly lived up to her name. The second of the mighty Olympic-class ocean liners, she was dubbed the ship of dreams, where her builders and crew bragged how not even God could sink her. She and her sister Olympic were the pride of the Belfast shipbuilders of Harland & Wolff, as no ocean liner before them were larger, or more beautiful. Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK on April 10, 1912, and after stops in Cherbourg, France and Cork, Ireland, she left towards the open sea towards New York City. The richest passengers were there to experience a luxurious vacation on the open seas, while most of the second and third class passengers were heading towards a new life in the Americas.
Fate, however, is unpredictable, and often cruel. On the night of April 14th, only a day away from her destination, a frantic message echoed the telegraph lines of the Atlantic:
"CQD CQD THIS IS TITANIC"
"MOUNT TEMPLE TO TITANIC
WHAT IS THE MATTER?"
"TITANIC TO MOUNT TEMPLE
CANNOT READ YOU OLD MAN BUT HERE MY
POSITION 41.46N 50.24W COME AT ONCE
HAVE STRUCK BERG"
Intro: Titanic Distress Signal
Intrepid by Kevin MacLeod
Outro: Nearer, My God, To Thee
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Someone Had Blundered: The Crimean War
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Monday Mar 11, 2019
1850: the once great Ottoman Empire was now the sick man of Europe. Internal dissent from growing ethnic nationalism within the diverse country was beginning to crack the already fragile hold the Royal Family kept over their territory. Furthermore, a series of devastating wars against its neighbours have shrunk its size further and further out of Europe. Now, the Balkans were looking to host the next large uprising. To the north, the Russian Empire was striving to assert its power in Europe. While its size may have been intimidating, it also had growing instability. Russia had yet to modernize its industry and military. Their eyes gazed menacingly towards the Ottomans for a solution. Should the Russians take advantage of their dwindling rival, perhaps their prestige could be restored.
On the opposite end of the continent, France, still struggling in the aftermath of Napoleon, was looking to repair its image as a Great Power. Seeing the Catholic Church as a potential ally, they, too, set their eyes on the Ottoman Empire in hopes of becoming protectors of Christians within its borders. Russia would not have this, as they were the chosen protectors of Christians in Ottoman territory. As France and Russia began to throw rhetoric back and forth, the British watched on in terror. The Congress of Europe was at risk of falling apart, and the balance of power in Europe was in jeopardy of going out of whack. All these events would lead to the landscape of the Crimean Peninsula turning to ash, and running red with blood.
Music:
The Charge of the Light Brigade by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Monday Nov 05, 2018
Episode 6, Part 3: The Failure of Humanity (The Bosnian War and Genocide)
Monday Nov 05, 2018
Monday Nov 05, 2018
By the time of the Bosnian War, Yugoslavia was a mortally wounded mass refusing to admit its time had come. Desperate to hold on, JNA forces moved into Bosnia to support the Bosnian-Serb population, many of whom had joined the various paramilitaries in the new country. Meanwhile, Bosniaks and Bosnian-Croats formed a rocky alliance out of self preservations for their respective groups, and their shared hatred of the Serb dominated remains of Yugoslavia. Bosnia became a battleground for the Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks, causing the citizens to suffer greatly from the constant shelling and sniper fire landing indiscriminately, regardless of who was within sight. Worse yet, it became the location of the worst act of genocide committed in Post-World War II Europe to date, as UN personnel could do nothing but watch helplessly.
Bosnia was a failure of humanity, and the wounds from the horror have yet to heal.
Intro: Searching by Wayve
Outro: Bosnia by The Cranberries
Monday Oct 08, 2018
Episode 6, Part 2: A Checkered Shield (The Croatian War of Independence)
Monday Oct 08, 2018
Monday Oct 08, 2018
A water tower stands tall over the city of Vukovar, still bearing the scars of Croatia's trauma. As Yugoslavia collapses, Croatia stands firm against Serbian aggression, both from Serbia itself and the Serbian-Croats within its borders. Ethnic tension runs at an all time high, and it soon becomes clear to the world this war will not be as quick as Slovenia's Ten-Day War. Both the Croats and Serbs are equally determined to cement their self-preservation, and are equally willing to resort to extreme violence. Aside from the conventional warfare measures, the Croat and Serb forces will resort to the worst methods possible in an effort to achieve their goals in the first examples of ethnic cleansing in Europe since the Second World War. Sadly, the Croatian War of Independence was only a prologue to the horrors we still can't begin to comprehend.
Please note: At almost exactly 1 hour in, the audio messed up, hense why the quality momentarily faulters.
Intro: Sean Murray, Fountain (from Call of Duty: World at War)
Outro: Philanthrope, Things Fall Apart
Monday Sep 17, 2018
Episode 6, Part 1: The Decline of Yugoslavia and the Ten-Day War
Monday Sep 17, 2018
Monday Sep 17, 2018
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the Balkans were a powder keg waiting to go off. A spark from a gunman's bullet in Sarajevo ignited the inferno that was First World War. The embers of the conflict in turn fuelled the Second World War, history's deadliest conflict. By the latter's end, the world was changed, as were the Balkans. Under the facade of a slavic union, unseen embers were beginning to glow again. As the 20th Century came to a close, the Balkans would once again ignite into the last great conflict of those 100 years. The consequences of a dying Yugoslavia would ripple across the world, and the first shots would be fired in the country of Slovenia.
This is the beginning of a conflict which would see evils we hoped were long behind us……ones we failed to prevent, and stop.
Music: Hej, Slaveni (Yugoslavia's national anthem, 1945-1992)
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Episode 2, Part 1: The Peasants Crusade
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Monday Jul 02, 2018
The Byzantine Empire is dwindling, Pope Urban II's power is threatened, and claims of autrocities committed against Christian pilgrams to Jerusalem have sparked horror and outrage across Western Europe. With the cry of "Deus Vult", The First Crusade is declared. However, a group of Peasants decide they are the heroes God has chosen for this journey. Are they? Join us as we discuss the misadventures that were The Peasants Crusade.