Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Reichs & Republics | The German History Podcast

In the first episode of Reichs and Republics, we set the scene for a journey through German history, from the Holy Roman Empire to reunification. We explore the meanings of 'Reich' and 'Republic', explain why Germany's past continues to shape the modern world, and share what sparked our fascination with the subject. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community:⁠ ⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠ Support via Paypal:⁠⁠ ⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠ Katjas socials X (Twitter): ⁠⁠ https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris and Katja take a closer look at the towering figure of Otto von Bismarck. Who was the Iron Chancellor really? What role did he play in the making of Germany? And how is he remembered today? Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community:⁠ ⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠ Support via Paypal:⁠⁠ ⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠ Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠⁠ https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the brutal reality of the 'Turnip Winter' of 1916/17, when the German civilian population was forced to endure extreme hunger, freezing temperatures and a collapsing food system. They explore how the British blockade, disastrous harvests and government mismanagement forced people to survive on animal fodder such as turnips (and crow). The episode reveals that food shortages weakened Germany not only physically, but also shattered morale, fuelled social tensions and played a decisive role in the country's eventual defeat in the First World War. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community:⁠ ⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠ Support via Paypal:⁠⁠ ⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠ Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠⁠ https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris examine the Weimar Republic at its apparent high point in 1928 and ask the question that still haunts historians today: was German democracy ever truly secure, or was collapse already built in? Looking at elections, economic recovery, Stresemann’s diplomacy, rural unrest, and the Nazis' ongoing inability to gain a hearing from German voters, they explore how a republic that seemed stable and modern could still be far more fragile than it appeared. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.comUntitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials: X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_katSubstack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the origins of the Nazi concentration camp system before the Second World War. They examine how the early camps were created, who they were meant to imprison, and how terror was normalized in German society. They discuss the differences between the early pre-war camps and the later wartime camp system, the role of Dachau as a model for SS violence, and why so many ordinary Germans tolerated or accepted what was happening. The episode also looks at how the camps evolved from tools of political repression into institutions that pointed toward the wider horrors of Nazi persecution and genocide. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.comUntitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials: X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_katSubstack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore how the Allies attempted to denazify Germany after Hitler’s fall, focusing not just on top Nazi leaders but on the millions of ordinary Germans who had supported the regime. They compare the very different approaches of the American, British, French, and Soviet occupation zones, and examine how politics, pragmatism, and the early Cold War shaped the process. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials: X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris dive into the dramatic events of 17 June 1953, when East Germany was shaken by a mass uprising that nearly toppled the young socialist regime. What began as a workers’ strike in East Berlin quickly spread across the country, drawing in over a million people. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.comUntitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials: X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_katSubstack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris dive into the final, frantic days of the GDR. They explore the lived reality of the Wende (the turning point) from the perspective of East Germans watching their world dissolve in real-time. From the bravery of the Monday Demonstrations to the surreal shock of the first border crossings, they discuss what it felt like to suddenly step out from the known and into an uncertain, reunified future. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community: ⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠ Support via Paypal: ⁠⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast: ⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast: ⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠ Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠⁠https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Thumbnail Background Image: Von Lear 21, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3692038 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore how West Germany transformed from a conservative postwar society into one rocked by youth rebellion. From the economic miracle of the 1950s to the student protests of 1968, they examine why a new generation began questioning their parents’ past, asking uncomfortable questions about Nazism, authority, and democracy. Along the way, they uncover how cultural change, political tensions, and global movements collided to reshape modern Germany. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community: ⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠ Support via Paypal: ⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠ Our WW1 Podcast: ⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠ Our WW2 Podcast: ⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s episode, Katja and Chris explore the Weimar hyperinflation crisis, when German money became almost worthless, prices changed by the hour, and a loaf of bread could cost billions of marks. How did Germany reach this point? What did it mean for ordinary people trying to survive? And why did the trauma of 1923 leave such a deep mark on German society? Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community: ⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠⁠ Support via Paypal: ⁠⁠⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠⁠⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: ⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠ Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠⁠⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠⁠⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠⁠⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s episode, Katja and Chris are joined by historian Mark Jones to discuss the 1923 Ruhr Crisis: the French and Belgian occupation of Germany’s industrial heartland, the policy of passive resistance, and the crisis of violence, hyperinflation, and political extremism that pushed the Weimar Republic to the brink. Guest: Mark Jones Book: 1923: The Forgotten Crisis in the Year of Hitler’s Coup Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host⁠⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support via Paypal: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Untitled History Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://listen.untitled-history.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠ Katjas socials: X (Twitter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/hoyer_kat⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack: Zeitgeist ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.katjahoyer.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠⁠⁠⁠republics@battleguide.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the long and complicated relationship between Germany and Austria. They explain how religious differences and Great Power rivalry sustained two competing German identities in Central Europe. Starting from Katja’s childhood memories of crossing the Austro-German border into a familiar yet foreign world, they debate the Holy Roman Empire, the impact of Napoleon, the Hohenzollern-Habsburg dynastic rivalry, the 1848 revolutions, Bismarck, and the competing “small” (kleindeutsch) and “greater” (grossdeutsch) answers to the nineteenth century “German Question”. They show that the idea of “Anschluss”, or union between the German-speaking states, had existed long before Hitler. Perhaps surprisingly, considering what was later to come in 1938, the cause had been associated far more with liberal and progressive forces than those of the political Right. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s episode, Katja and Chris continue their exploration of the tangled relationship between Austria and Germany, from the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in 1918 to the Nazi regime’s annexation of Austria in 1938. Why had so many Austrians believed their new republic could not survive alone? Why was union with Germany banned in the post-war peace settlement? And how did an idea previously associated with liberals and socialists become synonymous with ultranationalism, militarism, and antisemitic violence? Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the origins of the Stasi, East Germany’s notorious secret police, and the ruthless mindset of its long-serving chief, Erich Mielke. From Soviet influence and early political repression to mass surveillance and paranoia, they examine how the GDR built one of the most intrusive police states in modern history. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the life of Konrad Adenauer before he became West Germany’s first chancellor. From his Catholic Rhineland upbringing and bitter opposition to Prussian dominance to his transformation of Cologne and uneasy survival under the Nazis, they examine the experiences that shaped his political outlook. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the Eulenburg Affair, a royal scandal that struck deep into the heart of Kaiser Wilhelm II's circle of friends and advisors with grave and unintended consequences for Europe. They examine Wilhelm's intense friendship with diplomat Philipp zu Eulenburg, and how accusations of homosexuality became a weapon in the struggle over power. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the long chancellorship of Konrad Adenauer, West Germany’s first postwar leader. From the narrow vote that brought him to power in 1949 to the economic miracle, Western integration, NATO membership, and the slogan “No Experiments”, they examine how Adenauer helped turn a defeated and divided country into a stable democracy. But they also ask what this success cost: the sidelining of reunification, the compromises made over Germany’s Nazi past, Adenauer’s increasingly authoritarian style, and the scandals that finally brought his era to an end. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special Q&A episode, Katja and Chris tackle listener questions on everything from whether the Nazis were really right-wing, to why Hitler never invaded Switzerland, the myth of the German Sonderweg, and the deep roots of Germany's "Russlandversteher" sympathies. They explore a counterfactual on Kaiser Frederick III, unpack why the "stab-in-the-back" legend took such powerful hold after 1918, and discuss the lingering identities of Germans displaced from the East. Along the way: East German football loyalties, whether German reunification would look different in the internet age, Bismarck's self-made myth, the OHL's wartime economic control, and a rundown of the modern Hohenzollern royal family and Germany's fringe monarchist "Reichsbürger" movement. Plus: the truth about JFK's "jelly doughnut" speech. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris are joined by historian Dr Caroline Sharples to discuss Adolf Hitler’s death. Drawing on Caroline’s new book, The Long Death of Adolf Hitler: An Investigative History (Yale University Press), they explore the ways the Nazi dictator’s demise was imagined for years beforehand, what really unfolded in the Führerbunker on 30 April 1945, and how forensic detective work, from dental records to skull fragments, pieced together the truth from charred remains in the garden above the bunker. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Katja and Chris explore Germany’s colonial empire, from its early roots in Brandenburg to its rapid expansion under the Kaiserreich. They examine why Germany pursued colonies, how empire was sold to the public at home, and the violence, racial hierarchy, and dispossession behind the colonial dream. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris continue their exploration of Germany's colonial empire, turning to the violence that underpinned it. They examine the daily brutality of plantation and settler life, the international suppression of China's Boxer Uprising, and the genocidal war waged against the Herero and Nama peoples in German South West Africa under General Lothar von Trotha's extermination order. They also explore the lesser-known Maji Maji uprising in East Africa, the fierce backlash this violence provoked in German domestic politics, and the fraught historical debate over whether Germany's colonial atrocities prefigured the horrors of the Holocaust. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the East German regime's ambitious drive to build socialism one prefabricated apartment at a time. Between 1971 and 1989, the GDR pledged to build millions of new homes, using concrete, steel and propaganda to try to eliminate the post-war housing shortage and forge a "classless" society. Drawing on Katja's own family history growing up in a GDR housing block, they trace the story from the rubble of 1945 and the Bauhaus's prefabrication experiments in Weimar, through Walter Ulbricht's neglect of housing in favour of heavy industry, to Erich Honecker's flagship building programme and the birth of vast new estates like Halle-Neustadt (aka "Ha-Neu""). They ask whether the GDR's caring dictatorship ever really delivered on its promise of a home for every family and what became of these estates after reunification. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Jessa Sargento Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris are joined by historian Dr Claudia Kreklau to uncover the surprising German origins of the way the world eats today. They explore how chefs fleeing the French Revolution found new homes in Prussian courts, how volcanic eruptions and failed harvests triggered starvation and revolution in the 1840s, and how the German middle class turned household preservation tricks into an industrial food empire. From Liebig's meat extract and the rise of tinned goods to the 1879 food law that cracked down on adulterated products, they trace the messy, fascinating path from farmhouse kitchens to global brands like Knorr, Maggi, and Heinz.  And rediscover the women whose culinary innovations were quietly erased from the historical record. Website: https://claudiakreklau.wordpress.com/ Handles and Profiles: ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1621-5300 Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=57204513593 GoogleScholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fJ5HIJgAAAAJ&hl=en Research Profile: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/people/ck230/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/claudiakreklau.bsky.social Twitter: @Claudia Kreklau The Making of Modern Eating: How the German Middle Class Forged the Way We Eat, 1780-1910 - Studies in German History (Hardback) Berghahn PDF: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/downloads/OpenAccess/KreklauMaking/9781836953609_OA.pdf Amazon EPUB: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Modern-Eating-1780-1910-Studies-ebook/dp/B0GF76PPNX/ref=sr_1_1 And here the articles mentioned: “Masters of Food: Climate Crisis and Optimized Exploitation in an Atlantic Hinterland before the Revolutions of 1848,” German Studies Review (Johns Hopkins UP), 49:1 (February 2026) 1-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/gsr.2026.a983097 “Vaterland, c.1780-1870,” German History (Oxford UP), 43:3 (October 2025) 373–394. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghaf036 The Vaterland piece is open access. Takes you beyond the familiar clichés to uncover the richness and diversity of the German past. Join us as we untangle this complex story, dispelling the popular myths and misapprehensions about a national history that still shapes the world we live in.  Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Jessa Sargento Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Katja and Chris trace the long and sometimes misunderstood history of Jews in German-speaking Europe, from Roman Cologne to the founding of the German Empire in 1871. They explore how Jewish communities settled along the Rhine under Frankish and medieval rulers, survived cycles of expulsion and violence including the Crusades and the Black Death pogroms, and gradually built livelihoods as traders, doctors, and financiers who were excluded from land ownership and the guild system. Along the way they examine the Reformation's impact on Jewish-Christian relations, the Enlightenment-era friendship between Moses Mendelssohn and Gotthold Lessing, and how the French Revolution and Napoleon's armies spread the idea of Jewish civic equality across the German lands. The episode also looks at the 19th-century process of emancipation, the amicable social relations between Jews and Christians recalled by memoirists of this period, and how the deep, centuries-old entanglement of Jewish and Christian life made the antisemitism of the Nazi era so emotionally devastating for German Jews. Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-republics#host To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supporters Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/collections/all Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/ Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/ Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Katjas socials X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/ General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk Credits: - Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Jessa Sargento Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices