Good morning! September is done and tomorrow begins the Thirty-One Days of the Time Team. So every day for thirty-one days there will be a different Time Team episode reviewed. I am still finding Time Team episodes and there are new episodes being produced. I have done seasons 1, 2, 3, and 13 for this blog and am hopeful that I can find some additional episodes for season 4 and season 5 on the official Time Team channels. Anyway, now that that short statement is out of the way, I am going to look at a documentary about a mummy in Siberia. The run time for this documentary is 53:07. It is called The Mummy Who Came in From the Cold.
Eric Crubezy, an anthropologist has unearthed a strange tomb in Yakutia, a forgotten province in Siberia. This tomb contained the body of a woman, with her eyes covered and clothed in a garment of pearls. A second anthropologist, Eric Krubesi is excavating more ancient burials in the Yakuts in Eastern Siberia. He is seeking genetic and anthropological data. The Yakuts were a people of Eastern Siberia, and they have left few written records. Their history remains largely unknown apart from burial sites that reveal complex burial rituals. However, the discovery of this woman has raised questions about these ancient people. Yakutia is one of the most mysterious areas of Siberia. It is inhabited by a people that little is understood about it. Most of their history has come down from epic chants that have been passed down through the generations. They left no written records of their records. Slowly and over time some information has been gathered about these people as a result of scientific expeditions. The Yakuts were people who settled in small clans and were horse breeders instead of reindeer breeders. A team is led into Yakutia to excavate the burial sites. The first burial is discovered and the man is carefully buried. His body was preserved in the permafrost. The work has to be done quickly, because once the grave is opened what is found is in danger of drying out. Everything is carefully wrapped and kept moistened. This expedition is looking for as many graves as they can to study the people and gather data. However, best-laid plans are being interrupted. They are pointed to a grave that has been passed down through the generations. It is said that a maiden was buried in the grave. However, the local people are not happy with the expeditions and say that they hear spirits outside of their houses. The team is summoned by the local major for questioning. The locals want to protest these digs. The expedition will have to turn to a local with high standing in the community to help them make their case for the continuing expedition. Luckily for the expedition, they know someone who is well respected in the community. He is an expert in Yakut culture and he is thrilled with what the expedition has initially found. This was a nerve-wracking session of the documentary. Eventually, they are given permission to proceed with excavating the graves. They go to the grave that contained the maiden. The expedition goes to work on this particular grave. What they discover in the grave astonishes the expedition. However, the focus of the expedition changed when it discovered this grave. Now all its resources will be focused on exploring who this woman was. Why was she buried with ornate clothing? Why did she have a rope around her neck? Who would have buried her? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. At first, I thought it was going to have an old-school feel to the documentary, just based on the introduction. However, as I watched that opinion changed. Woah, woah, woah, this documentary is really fast-moving. It was almost too much to keep up with. I did manage to keep up with the documentary because it eventually slowed down. In the end, I found the documentary really well done and the subject was really fascinating. I would put this documentary my “suggested list for subs” list for a history class. It was a very interesting documentary and is something different for a classroom setting.
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Good morning! September has flown by and we will soon be heading into October. For October, I will do Thirty-One Episodes of the Time Team. I am still finding episodes of Time Team and there are new episodes being posted as well on the Time Team YouTube Channel. Today I am pulling a David Adams Documentary about the Ark of the Covenant. It is part of the Journeys to the End of the Earth. The documentary has a run time of 50:23. It is called Keepers of the Lost Ark. The link is found here.
David Adams travels to Ethiopia, one of the world’s oldest Christian nations. He is looking for the Ark of the Covenant over the Ethiopian Christmas Holiday. He will visit Ethiopia’s most sacred shrines on his journey. He takes in the sights of the churches of Lalibela. He travels with a family through the highlands of Ethiopia. He is in search of the Ark of The Covenant. Many have tried to look for this religious object and many have failed. Will David find this relic? What does he learn along the way? David Adams begins his journey through Ethiopia on the back of a horse where he receives an unusual welcome. Ethiopia was fairly isolated and was well-defended by its warriors. It was the only African Nation never to be colonized. David will begin his journey at the Ethiopian Highlands and he will visit some of the most sacred shrines in Ethiopia. He will be in Lalibela where he will begin his pilgrim’s journey. Before he makes his way he meets with a local Ethiopian family, he is going to make the journey with this family. He also takes the time to learn about Ethiopian beliefs. One in five male Ethiopians are either deacons or priests. He takes in a Christmas liturgy. David is traveling during the Ethiopian Christmas season. He takes in the sights of the churches of Lalibela. These were churches carved out of stone. These were carved out of stones and chisel, legend has it that they were carved by angels and saints. David explores these churches through a maze of tunnels. The tunnels are home to catacombs and these catacombs house the dead monks. Inside one of these churches was the Ark of the Covenant. Behind a curtain, this ark is hidden from public view. He and his travel companions make their way through the Ethiopian highlands. These highlands were a natural barrier to invaders. Only 12% of Ethiopian lands are suitable for farming, so there have been many famines in Ethiopia’s history. Eventually, day one of the pilgrimage ends. When they camp for the night, David learns about the tradition of having multiple arks. He looks to get some clarification on this tradition. He tours the Bethlehem Church, and this is a church that has an ark. A new day dawns and David Adams and the family head into the mountains and to the Blue Nile. Along the way, they encounter a funeral. After this funeral, he takes in the beauty of the Ethiopian landscape. They encounter a bridge that is made out of honey, eggs, and clay. The Portuguese built this bridge and used those materials because they did not have concrete. Soon they approach the Blue Nile. David and the family top of their food supplies and David talks about pilgrimages with the family he is traveling with. It is a tradition to go on pilgrimage in Ethiopia. David does some exploring on his own and learns about how the Ark was stored on an island in the Blue Nile. He wants to see this island and the best way to get it is by boat. He watches as a papyrus canoe is built. Eventually, David takes to the water in this papyrus canoe. He has to camp for the night before making his way to the island where the Ark of the Covenant is hidden. Does David make it to this island? Where do David’s travels take him? What else does he learn about the Ark of the Covenant? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out. This was an interesting documentary, David does a good job in narration. His arms must have been sore canoeing. This would be better for a geography class rather than a history class. Good morning, now I am going to move forward in time and do a documentary on the American Civil War. I have done some disappointing documentaries in the past about the American Civil War, so I hope that I can turn it around. This documentary has a run time of 59:22. It is called the Road to Fort Sumter.
The Civil War divided America like no other war. Although Americans shared a common history, their lifestyles were vastly different. By the time of the Civil War, the North had become heavily industrialized while the South was still a rural-agrarian society. The North made manufactured goods, while the South relied on the farming economy. The Northern manufacturers could pay workers to work, while the South wanted to keep labor enslaved. These two regions were going to come to blows over the issue of slavery. The story begins with the voices of two men on opposite sides of the country. One speaks about how there is a need for slavery while the other voice speaks out against slavery. Then it transitions to a politician who said that the South did not need any manufacturing and that they could control their destiny with sugar, rice, tobacco, and cotton to purchase whatever they wanted. This voice-over concludes with the voice of John Brown. The documentary then transitions to talk about the differences between the North and South. The historians talk about the different lifestyles of both regions, as well as the different economies of the region. There was a vast difference as to how the people in each region viewed each other and there was a discussion of the stereotypes of each region. Demographics would change rapidly during this period, fueled by immigration. A bulk of the patrons would live in the North, the two biggest cities in the North were Chicago and New York. The biggest city in the South was New Orleans. When it came to the Civil War, the North with its larger population would have a huge advantage. The film talks about the political football issue of slavery. There was a delicate balance in the US Government between slave and free states. For every free state that entered the Union, a slave state had to be added. Eventually, the difference between free and slave states would become sharpened. An atmosphere of mistrust would be created. Some politicians in the South would eye the North with jealousy because of how industrial the North had become. However, many Southerners chose to remain with their way of life. However, there was a demand for cotton in the mills in the North. This was the result of the Industrial Revolution. The South used cotton to make money although they hated the greed of the Northern Factory owners. The Southerners preferred a genteel way of life. They were the lords of the manor who protected their women and their property. The slave-owning elites would not reinvest in machines or any way to mechanize cotton picking. They would continue to purchase slaves and land to keep up with the demand for cotton. There was one historian who talked about the lack of diversity in the Southern economy. Then there was a discussion on more of those differences. Education was not a priority for the Southerners at the time. Over half the population in the South was illiterate. There were duels for honor, which would have horrified the Northerner. There were militias roaming around to protect the slave owners. In the decades leading up to the Civil War, there were slave rebellions that were brutally put down. Then there was a discussion on slavery and the slaves themselves. Eventually, this documentary transitions to the Abolitionist and the Abolitionist movement. To learn more about the lead-up to the Civil War continue to watch this documentary. I found it interesting to see that the filmmakers brought in historians from a variety of places. I saw one came from Sandhurst while another came from a university in Wales. This documentary turned out better than I thought it would. It was a good overview of the rising tensions between the North and the South. I would show this documentary to an American History class. Good morning, today’s documentary is going to come from the National Geographic YouTube channel. Today’s documentary is going to be about the Inca Empire and the Skeletons of the Inca Rebellion. It has a run time of 44:24 and it reminds me of a Secrets of the Dead episode. It is called the Skeletons of the Inca Rebellion.
In the shadow of Lima Peru lies a graveyard containing skeletons. Guillermo Cock, an expert in the Inca Empire was sent to the site to investigate any remains. He is joined by fellow archeologist Elena Goycochea. This site was going to be covered with a highway. A test trench was built and what was found astonished Guillermo. It would lead to a change in the understanding of Incan History. What was found at this site? Why would it lead to the rewriting of Incan history? The story begins at this site, where many skeletons were discovered. They were discovered in the way the Incan people traditionally buried their dead. They were in a crouching position facing east towards the sun buried with grave goods. However, there were other graves that were unlike what they had seen before. These bodies were stretched out, and buried near the surface. Some of the bodies were thrown into graves. The bodies were facing west. There were other surprises yet to come. The bodies were simply wrapped, in a hurry. Why the hurry? The Incans had great care for the dead and there were rituals that were implemented. However, these burials were different and there was no careful burial for these bodies. In fact, these bodies show signs of extreme violence. This was violence that had never been seen before in bodies in Central or South America. There was one particular body that stood out. There were a variety of wounds found on this body, in fact, there were some wounds discovered on the skeletons head that came from above. There was another body that had a wound that looked like a gunshot wound. If this was a gunshot wound, it would be the first ever to be documented in the New World. Were these Incas killed in an uprising against Francsico Pizzaro? When the Spanish came over to this area, they would have had the latest in weapons technology. The Incan Empire still used stone weapons. It would have been challenging for the Incans to mount a defense against these weapons. The Spanish had cavalry and steel weapons. They also brought diseases that the Incans had no natural defense for. Could these bodies be the victims of Pizzaro’s soldiers? They would be the first to have been found. The skeleton with the supposed gunshot wound is carefully scanned. Melissa Murphy is disappointed that the remains do not show evidence of metal residue. Guillermo and Melissa are certain that this particular wound is a gunshot wound, so they will have to dig a little deeper to prove it. They decided that they would have to bring in specialists to see if there was some sort of residue left over in the wound. Top Forensic scientists will be examining this particular skeleton. Al and Tim, the two experts focus immediately on the gunshot wound. So does this skeleton bear evidence of the first gunshot wound discovered in America? You will have to tune into the rest of this episode to find that answer! Then the documentary transitions into the Spanish explorers who made their way to Peru. They would have been led by Francisco Pizzaro. Eventually, the Incas realized that the Spanish were in their empire to stay and would rise up against the Spanish. They would be brutally put down as a result of their rebellion. To learn more about the Spanish conquest of Peru and the skeletons that were discovered continue to follow along with the episode. This would have been a good episode to document into chapters to help teachers pull out clips for viewing. The documentary had a really good flow and narration to it. I really enjoyed following along with the story of the skeletons. I would show this to both a history class as well as a science class because you see the application of the scientific method in this episode. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog and doing your planning. I am going to pull a documentary from PBS Florida. This is a one-hour documentary about Henry Morrison Flager who built a railway connection from Key West to Florida. It is called Flagler’s Train: The Florida Keyes Over-Sea Railroad. The run time for this documentary is 56:38.
It was the time the Titanic was being Built. The Panama Canal was under construction as well. However, in the US this bridge was unlike anything ever constructed before in history. Who was the man behind this railroad bridge? Henry Morrison Flagler was a wealthy man, who used his fortune to invest in East Florida. He had an idea to build a railway connecting Florida to the Florida Keys. It was a big undertaking, but people were full of hope for the development of the railway. It would have been risky and the work was tough. The result would have changed Florida. The story of the sea railroad begins in Florida. The Florida wilderness was the US’s last great frontier. It was remote and hard to get to. Miami was an outpost of 1,000 people. Key West would have had 20,000 people and was an important US Port. However, it was challenging to get to and was only accessible by boat. However, soon after the first railroad was built there were already calls for a railroad to be built to Key West. It was an idea that persisted through the decades. For one man, a New Yorker: Henry Morrison Flagler, saw Florida as a land of opportunity. He was a partner in Standard Oil and was making money hand over fist. He disliked President Teddy Roosevelt because of Roosevelt’s dislike for Standard Oil. President Roosevelt was a trust-buster and Flagler did not think the president should interfere with private business. Eventually, Flagler retired and looked for something to do to challenge himself. Eventually, he would meet with a railroad builder in Florida. Flagler would invest in this business. In 1885, he would build a hotel in St. Augustine. He would build the best resort hotel in the world. He wanted to have the best, but also keep the character of Old St. Augustine in the hotel design. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was a wonder of its day. Eventually, he would build another hotel that had a huge therapeutic pool and baths. He would work to improve St. Augustine and most importantly he would improve the railroad. There was a railroad that ran from Jacksonville to St. Augustine with a ferry crossing on the St. John’s River, it would provide Flagler the first taste of railway building. Eventually, this railroad expanded south to Daytona Beach. Flagler believed that extending the railroad sough was inevitable. He purchased a smaller railroad and connected those smaller tracks to his main railroad. His railroad would make its way to Palm Beach and here he would establish some communities and build a grand hotel. Flagler was already eyeing a railroad to Key West. His railroad would expand to Fort Lauderdale, Miami. Eventually, it would end in Homestead. Flagler invested heavily in railroads and he would invest in railroads in Cuba. He envisioned ferries going from Florida to Cuba. He even had the idea of ferries going back and forth between New York. However, things would come to a head with the Panama Canal. Flagler already had performed the studies to see about connecting the Florida mainland to the Keys. Viewers have to appreciate Flagler’s foresight concerning this. What does Flagler decide about building the railway? How does this get accomplished? Does Flagler see the completion of this railway? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. The story of Henry Morrison Flagler was very interesting, to say the least. Who knew at one point Florida was a desolate place? The story about the initial surveys done to connect a railway to a deep sea port was interesting. I never really heard about Sable before today. It was interesting to see all the effort that was used to build this railway. This would be a good episode to show to an American history class. Good morning! I am pulling another documentary from the Odyssey YouTube channel and the Lost Treasures of the Ancient World series. At least, this is the category that the Odyssey YouTube channel puts this documentary in. This time it is a look at Stonehenge and the run time for this episode is 44:32.
Stonehenge is a mysterious monument of the Ancient World. Even with technology at the time, it would seem impossible to build. However, today’s modern technology still cannot decipher its meaning. Why was it built? How was it built? Who built it? There are so many questions about this monument that have yet to be answered. How were these stones moved? Were they erected by the magician Merlin? The story begins with Stonehenge itself and the exploration of Stonehenge. There was a henge on the site for thousands of years. Then there is a timeline of when Stonehenge was built. It is a sight that is older than the pyramids. It would have been an awe-inspiring sight for the hunter-gatherer cultures. Although there were many digs at the sight, many of those digs were poorly recorded. So the discoveries made in the past are really based on hearsay. In the 12th Century, there was the first mention of Stonehenge, which was surprising because I would have thought the Romans would have mentioned it. I think because this was an older documentary there may have been discoveries since then about Stonehenge. An image of Stonehenge during this time shows the musician Merlin erecting the stones. Crowds come to see Stonehenge. The crowds are causing the downfall of Stonehenge. There is a nearby road. English Heritage hopes that one day it can be isolated again and that people can experience it the way the ancient people would have done. Then there was a touch on the alternative theories and speculation about Stonehenge as well as a discussion on the findings that were discovered. Stonehenge clearly captures the imagination, and it continues to capture the imagination generations later. There have been antiquarians who have tied Stonehenge to Druids. This assertion haunts archeologists to the present day. Another theory is that it was a burial site. There were plenty of cremains discovered on the site but only one intact skeleton. This man had three arrowheads in his body. Was he a victim of a human sacrifice? Or was he a victim of the crime? The remains are in a museum. A person from English Heritage talks about the theories involving Stonehenge, and it was here that I would have appreciated some more of this person weighing the evidence. The prevailing theory was that Stonehenge was an astronomical calendar. The narrator then discusses the other stone circles that were found in Britain. Then the documentary talks about the stones that were involved in building Stonehenge. How did the ancient people get these stones into place? It would have been challenging for ancient people to move these stones. Transporting the larger stones over miles would have been a challenge, especially if the ancient people were transporting them over 200 miles. There is a discussion on where the stones came from. There have been a variety of theories as to how the stones were moved. Were they brought by sea or by land to the Stonehenge site? Once they got these stones to the site, how would the ancient people put them in place? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. This was definitely an older documentary, and I wish I could see the documentary where a group of students were experimenting with how the stones were moved with round stone balls they carved out. Although I felt there was a historian who was annoying about that experiment in that other Stonehenge documentary, I found it to be an excellent documentary anyway. That said, it was a very slow-moving documentary and it was very old in comparison to other Stonehenge documentaries reviewed for this blog. There were points where it truly showed its age. The narration was done well and it did provide a good outline about Stonehenge. I would be skipping this documentary because I feel like you would be cheating the students out of the latest discoveries about Stonehenge. Good morning! Another day, another blog review! Today I am going to look at an episode of the Lost Treasures of the Ancient World Series from the Odyssey YouTube Channel. This episode is looking at the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I had some good luck with previous episodes from this series so hopefully this will be a good episode too. The run time for this documentary is 55:37.
What were the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Not everyone agrees with what was considered a wonder. Locals seemed to put local things on their consideration for Wonders of the World. In the latter half of the century, the seven best-known were put together on a list. There was a wide variety of options when it came to deciding the Seven Wonders. This episode looks at several of those Seven Wonders. The first wonder discussed was one that everyone agreed on the Pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid was one of the tallest structures built in the Ancient World. The pyramids were for the most part used as tombs for the Pharaoh. Then it talks about the statue of Zeus in Olympus, the home of the Olympic Games. This giant statue of Zeus was eventually destroyed. The narrator talks about another statue that was destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes. It had collapsed in an earthquake and eventually, the bronze was sold off by Arab raiders. Then there was a Mausoleum at Halicarnassus that was eventually taken apart to use the stones to build houses. Then the documentary transitions into a discussion on the lighthouse at Alexandria. The lighthouse would collapse and those stones would be used to build a fort. Then there was the temple of Artemis where there was a large statue of the goddess. It concluded with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and how initially people thought it was fiction but then the remains of the gardens were found. The documentary then went into detail on the seven wonders of the world. The documentary led off with the Pyramids of Giza. It went into more detail about Ancient Egypt and the pyramids at Giza. This documentary does show its age when it talks about how 100,000 people were used to build it. The explanation behind the pyramids was very simplistic as well. Eventually, the discussion switches over to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The narrator talks about the history and why the Hanging Gardens were built. Then the documentary transitions to the statue of Zeus as Olympia. It would have been a huge statue made from ivory and gold. Eventually, the discussion transitions to the Temple of Artemas, the fourth wonder of the Ancient World. It talks about how a king had it built and the statue inside. In fact, it was the site of several temples before a more secure and permanent structure was built. People would have flocked to this new temple and would have brought home souvenirs. What were the other wonders of the ancient world? What are their histories? What happened to these wonders? Were their other ancient sites that could be considered as a wonder of the Ancient World? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. The narrator was quick to get through the initial Seven Wonders, which left me confused as to why there was no more information on those seven wonders. I then thought there would have been more potential seven wonders mentioned. However, it became clear after the initial overview the narrator was going to press forward with the initial seven wonders. It would have been very nice to see this episode divided into chapters because it would enable teachers to take out pieces of this episode for use in teaching. I definitely had a feeling that the target audience was students and I have the feeling that this was two parts that were put together into one episode. Anyway, that said, it was a good overview of the wonders of the ancient world, the Seven Wonders, and other wonders as well. I would consider putting this on my list of potential documentaries to show to a history class because it was a good summary of those wonders. Today we conclude the series on Franco. It is now the 1950s and Franco is surviving. He would hold onto power until the very end. The run time for this episode is 53:38. The episode is called Leaden Age.
Today’s episode shifts to the discussion on the Monarchy. The Spanish Royal Family was in exile, now it was headed by Prince Juan after the death of King Alfonso. He pushed Franco on his promise of restoring the Kingdom and bringing back the King. Franco did not want to share power with a king. Prince Juan could not become king because he was too liberal for Franco. Instead, Juan Carlos was sent to live with Franco and to be trained by Franco. Spain was experiencing an upswing and with foreign money pouring in, investments in Spain were being made. Franco was firmly in power. Spain was still not free from Franco’s grip. Although living conditions had improved, there were new challenges emerging. There were still pockets of resistance. This new generation of resistance was unafraid of oppression, they did not experience the crackdowns after the civil war. The protests started at the universities, and these were done by the children of the upper classes who were loyal to Franco. There were calls for democracy and more freedom. Protests started in Madrid Universities and the secret police started cracking down on these protests. They took over the entire university. Students in lecture halls were pummeled by these police. The students fought back against these intruders. The university was completely taken apart. There was no stopping resistance against Franco. The police were ordered to cut back on torture and murder. Economic troubles continued to plague and ordinary Spaniards continued to struggle. However, for the most part, the population was resigned to the Franco dictatorship. The scars of the Spanish Civil War loomed large over the people and there was no desire to repeat the experience. People would concentrate on day-to-day living. The one thing the focus everyone had was on sports. Many Spaniards were interested in sports rather than politics. Sport was the one thing that the government could not interfere with. Franco and his propaganda machine realized this and quickly mobilized to tie sports successes to Franco’s success. Sports, particularly soccer or futbol were used to bolster the image of Franco and his regime. However, the love of sport could not hide the economic realities. Prices soared in Spain which left everyone facing poverty. Franco had to get control of the situation and it started importing industrial goods. Other reforms needed to be made and Franco would have to make them. He would eventually replace a majority of his cabinet with experts and not supporters. Opus Dei, the lay people of the Catholic church would find themselves in positions of power. They brought new ideas to Franco’s cabinet and they wanted to open up the economy. If living standards could rise, then there would be little reason to protest. Their plans would keep the dictator in power. It took time and a lot of convincing for Franco to adopt their reforms. He did so but did not like those reforms. There were also concerns about who would succeed Franco. Juan Carlos was clearly in line, but Opus Di did not like that idea because of his liberal father. Another candidate came in the form of Franco’s grandson. Franco did not speak on the matter but kept a close eye on the potential successors. Unfortunately, Spain was still suffering from economic issues. Will Opus Dei be able to make the changes necessary to help Spain? Or will the people continue to rebel? Who would be Franco’s successor? Would Spain open up to the people? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more about Franco and the end of his dictatorship. This was a very interesting episode about the final years of the Franco Dictatorship. It was particularly interesting to hear more about Juan Carlos and how he would take control. I was surprised to learn about how Opus Dei was involved in the Spanish Government. This was an excellent conclusion to the series and I would show this to a history class. Good morning! I am working through the series on Franco. This is the third episode in the series and World War II has ended. World politics was shifting and changing, how would Franco navigate these changes? The run time for this documentary is 52:31. It is called Zero Hour.
Franco’s support of Hitler brought him some scrutiny by the Allies. His friendship with Mussolini and Hitler was brought under question. He would put on a different mask to survive and would distance himself from the fascists. He would ban the Roman Salute and would throw out the fascists in his government. He would appoint members with strong ties to the Catholic Church. He also talked about the threat of communism and how it would destroy the Western World. Franco was banned from the Potsdam conference. While Stalin wanted him gone, the other Allied powers disagreed. They believed he would be overthrown soon. However, a close watch was kept on Franco. Spain would be a safe haven for Germans, and they would continue to flee to Spain. As part of the reparations, the Allies wanted to seize the German assets in Spain in exchange for a percent of the profits. Although annoyed, Franco agreed. He appreciated the influx of money and the de-Germanification of the Spanish economy, and he could blame the Allies for taking the decision. Eventually, the Allies would demand that Franco deport over 250 Nazi officials to Germany. Many of the Nazis used their ties to Franco to stay. He would grant one German general Spanish citizenship and give him a house. The remaining Germans would eventually flee to Argentina. Franco would attempt to give his regime an appearance of democracy however he said that the people need an authoritarian leader. Franco would try to get Spain on an equal footing in the world, however, with his fascist sympathies he was increasingly isolated. He would eventually change tactics. He would announce that the Allies were jealous of Spain and that he was appointed by providence to lead Spain. He was provided stability in Spain for the first time in years. However, there were supporters of the republic. They were driven underground and would employ guerilla tactics to fight back against Franco. They were bolstered by their time in the French resistance. They knew military tactics and would employ different tactics. The Republic soldiers would reach out to local villages and would rely on the women and children to support them. Guerilla units fought tough in the mountains but there were some attacks in major cities. The guerilla activities were barely reported in the newspapers. If they were they were reduced to criminals. The secret police were deployed to target families of the guerrilla fighters. Eventually, the republic supporters would flee otherwise they would have been killed. Part of the population supported Franco while others were to be suppressed. Dissenters were arrested and imprisoned. The prisons were crowded, many were used as forced laborers, and others were simply eliminated. There is an interview with one of the political prisoners. There are many mass graves around Spain, and these are Franco’s victims. Mass graves are still being discovered in Spain. Some of the victims are unidentified, while others still need to find their names. The Spanish people were under complete surveillance. The people in the capital kept their heads down and lived as best as they could. In the countryside, people were still starving. Franco tried to change the situation. Help came from another dictator: Peron. Argentina would send food and Evita to Spain. Evita’s beauty made Mrs. Franco jealous and forbade Franco from traveling through Spain with her alone. Mrs. Franco tried to outdo Evita as well. Evita was to provide a bit of glamor to Spain. Franco also continued to blame the other Western powers for Spain’s misery. However, Spain was an agricultural country and did not have the foundations for a self-sufficient economy. Franco would have to work to bring Spain forward in time. What were these projects? How would Franco work to make the Spanish economy work? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. This was a very interesting look at Franco and how he navigated the changing waters post-World War II. I would continue to recommend this documentary for a history class and would recommend it for research purposes too. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog. I am moving on through this series on Franco. This is the second episode of the series and has a run time of 52:50. The episode is called the New Regime.
Three years of bloody civil war had claimed millions of lives. Franco had seized power. The Civil War had fundamentally changed Spain. Although he was seen as this threatening dictator, Franco was henpecked at home. He was to oversee the transitional government, however, his brother would change the wording of the document. He was automatically appointed the head of the Spanish state. Franco was all-powerful. After the Civil War, Spain was split into two sides: winners and losers. Whole regions had been decimated. The economy was in a shambles. No one had any idea how they would feed their families. There was a famine in the land. People were dying in the streets. Franco and his family were in the midst of moving palaces while the people starved. Two days after his victory, the church would recognize him as Spain’s leader. The Spanish Catholic church was on the side of Franco during the Civil War. Democracy was dangerous in Franco’s mind and so he went about appointing authoritarian leaders in the Spanish regions. He followed the models of Mussolini and Hitler. The “Roman salute” was adopted in Spain. Franco was the sole source of law in Spain. The brother-in-law of Franco’s wife was appointed to a government position, even though Franco was not happy about doing it. The Spanish Fascists were starting to take more ideas from the Nazis. Franco was increasingly taking more and more control of Spain. Five months after the Spanish Civil War, Hitler invaded Poland. However, Franco was reluctant to take Germany’s side. Franco would make sure that supplies would make their way to Germany, but he needed to keep the British and the Americans happy as well. He would pledge strict neutrality, however, behind the scenes, he would help Hitler. Hitler invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Before Hitler’s troops reached Paris, Franco would declare Spain as “non-belligerent.” They were on Germany’s side, but they were not going to fight in the war. When Hitler marched through Paris, thousands of exiled Spaniards were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Before they were sent to concentration camps, the SS would contact the Spanish government to ask what should be done about these exiles. Franco’s government gave no response. To him, these exiles were less than dirt. Officially, Franco was not involved in the war, however, his troops occupied Tangier. When the Nazis finished conquering France, he was looking to take over some of those French lands. Hitler looked to conquer Gibraltar and therefore the Mediterranean. He would need to have Franco’s permission to attack Gibraltar from the Spanish mainland. Franco was reluctant to have German troops cross through Spain. In all likelihood, Franco wanted Gibraltar for himself and he was going to do it himself. Franco’s ideas did not go down well with Hitler. However, Franco would continue to help Hitler with his war effort through his back channels. He would supply materials used to make ammunition and troops. A volunteer soldier talks about his experiences in World War II. The propaganda at the time blamed Russia for the war. This soldier was too young to fight in the Spanish Civil War, so he signed up to fight the Russians. He arrived in Germany as a young and enthusiastic soldier. However, things have a way of changing those young soldiers. What does this young soldier face? How else did Franco support Hitler through his back channels? What would the Allies do to prevent Franco from entering World War II on Hitler’s side? Tune into the rest of the episode to learn more about Franco. This documentary had its humorous moments. I found it particularly funny that Franco was described as henpecked at home and a blabbermouth. I enjoyed the interview with the survivors of the concentration camps. This was another good documentary on Franco, it would be something I would show to a history class. I wish it would have been divided into chapters that way sections could be pulled out for a section on World War II. |
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |