Douglas MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1880.  He was the grandson of a former governor of Wisconsin, and the son of a medal-of-honor-winning military governor of the Philippines.  He attended West Point and graduated first in his class.  After a brief stint as an aide to his father, he became the chief of staff of the 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division in France during WWI.  He led the division through the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of St. Mihiel.  During the war, he developed a bad relationship with General Pershing.

After the war, he became the superintendent of West Point.  Then, he was charged with breaking up the Bonus Army, which had gathered in Washington DC to protest Hoover's treatment of them.  After that, he became the head of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps.  Then, he became US Army Forces Commander in the Far East and was stationed in the Philippines.  When WWII rolled around for the United States, he led the failed defense of the Philippines.  Although he did not do the best job, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.  In March 1942, he was instructed to go to Australia to become Supreme Allied Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area.  He famously yelled "I shall return" as he sailed away.

MacArthur's actions during WWII and the Korean War will be in the next episode.

For more information, read:
Armchair General (November 2005): Douglas MacArthur
The Guinness Book of Military Blunders by Geoffrey Regan
The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings
The Pacific War Companion by Daniel Marston
Reader's Digest Illustrated History of WWII
The Dictionary of Battles by David Chandler
http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=3&list=Ground
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/douglasmacarthurfarewelladdress.htm

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

The British Empire is the largest (14.1 million square miles) and most populous (532 million people) empire in history. It is the reason why English is one of the world's most important languages, why 1/3 of the world drives on the left, and why much of the world uses the parliamentary system. Another testament to its power is the fact that one of its former colonies, the United States of America, is the current hyperpower.

In addition to colonizing the British Isles and North America (discussed in part one), Britain colonized islands in the South Atlantic, the South Pacific, and the Mediterranean (for the purpose of Royal Navy bases). Britain also colonized Australia as a penal colony. A joint-stock company, the British East India Company, also controlled India from 1600 to 1857, when power was transferred to the British crown as a result of the Sepoy rebellion. Significant territorial gains were also made in Africa after the Berlin Conference of 1884 during the Scramble for Africa time period. However, all of these possessions became independent one-by-one after WWII, with the exception of a few overseas territories. Most of the former colonies still have ties to Britain through the Commonwealth of Nations.

For more information, read:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2003_34_thu_01.shtml
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/uk/armada/back/backd.html
http://www.britishempire.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches by Brian MacArthur
The Dictionary of Battles by David Chandler
The Guinness Book of Military Blunders by Geoffrey Regan
The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

The British Empire is the largest (14.1 million square miles) and most populous (532 million people) empire in history.  It is the reason why English is one of the world's most important languages, why 1/3 of the world drives on the left, and why much of the world uses the parliamentary system.  Another testament to its power is the fact that one of its former colonies, the United States of America, is the current hyperpower.

The British Empire began in 1066 with the Battle of Hastings, where William of Normandy defeated King Harold II of the Saxons.  Since then, England has consolidated power by annexing Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the crown dependencies, and numerous other territories and colonies around the world.  For example, thanks to Francis Drake's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the United Kingdom has been able to expand throughout the New World.  In North America, Britain founded 13 colonies along the eastern seaboard of the modern-day United States.  North of these colonies, Britain founded the Dominion of Canada after it defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

The next episode focuses on British expansion into Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific.

For more information, read:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2003_34_thu_01.shtml
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/uk/armada/back/backd.html
http://www.britishempire.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches by Brian MacArthur
The Dictionary of Battles by David Chandler
The Guinness Book of Military Blunders by Geoffrey Regan
The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

Blitzkrieg (lightning war) was the military doctrine of Germany during the first half of WWII.  It consisted of an all-mechanized army blowing through the enemy lines (via air support and artillery support) so fast that the enemy would be overwhelmed and defeated.  Blitzkrieg relied on a highly mobile and highly professional army.  It was developed after WWII by Heinz Guderian, author of Achtung: Panzer.

Blitzkrieg warfare was applied in five major places: Spanish Civil War, Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, North Africa Campaign, Operation Barbarossa.  Each time, Germany's enemy was too surprised to effectively defend itself.  However, as the German war machine ran out of resources and technical superiority, blitzkrieg methodology began to disappear (at least in the German form).

However, German blitzkrieg was neither the first nor the last use of maneuver tactics in a combined arms fashion.  Other examples include: German Schlieffen Plan in WWI, Russian Deep Operations in WWII, Operation Shock and Awe in Iraq War.

For more information, read:
Infantry Attacks by Erwin Rommel
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/blitzkrieg.htm
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,762668-1,00.html
Illustrated History of WWII by Reader’s Digest
Dictionary of Battles by David Chandler

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine