World War Two - Blitzkrieg

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1. 

   E116 · 7 Mar 2022 · 10 min

   The History of Ukraine

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) have been following the news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They decide to tell the story of the History of Ukraine going back over a 1000 years.----more----Their story starts with the Vikings. A thousand years ago Viking explorers left Scandinavia. Many of them went West and attacked England and France. Some even found America. Others went East and began exploring the huge rivers in what is now Russia. Eventually they found a town on a hill by a river. They attacked the town and took it for themselves. They called it Kyiv. They founded a mighty…

2. 

   E115 · 14 Feb 2022 · 10 min

   The Wars of the Roses

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Wars of the Roses. This was the civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster that was fought in the time of knights and castles to see who would rule England.----more---- 600 years ago two families had a claim to the throne of England: the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. They were powerful noble families. They each had a banner with a Rose on it. The Lancastrians had a red rose; the Yorkists had a white rose. At first the Lancastrians were more powerful. So their Duke became the King of England. He and his son were at…

3. 

   E114 · 24 Jan 2022 · 9 min

   Genghis Khan

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of Genghis Khan.----more----Genghis Khan was born 800 years ago in Mongolia. Except he was not called Genghis Khan then. His name was Temujin. He was the son of a chief of a small tribe. His father was poisoned and Temujin and his tribe had to flee. Life was hard growing up. Already though, Temujin was proving to be a fierce fighter. When he brother stole some food, Temujin killed him. Then Temujin married a wife from another tribe called Borte. Together the tribes were stronger. However, a different tribe attacked them. They kidnapped Borte.…

4. 

   E113 · 10 Jan 2022 · 10 min

   Captain Cook and the European Discovery of Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the great explorer Captain Cook who was the first European to discover Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.----more----Before we even start our episode Sophie and Ellie point out that there were already people living there who did not need to be discovered as they had their own cultures, languages and homes. However, we decide to tell the story anyway as Captain Cook was still a great explorer. James Cook was born 300 years ago in Britain. Britain was a powerful country who got rich through trading and from her colonies. James Cook was born…

5. 

   E112 · 20 Dec 2021 · 7 min

   History of the Christmas Carol

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the history of the Christmas Carol. Songs used to be sung by pagans thousands of years ago to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Christmas was at the same time as the Winter Solstice so the Church carried on with the singing but instead made the songs about Christmas. The first Christmas Carol we know of was from 2000 years ago and was called the Angels Hymn. All the early carols were in Latin and over time people stopped speaking Latin – and they stopped singing the Latin carols. Then around 800 years ago a monk called St Francis of Assisi wrote the first…

6. 

   E110 · 29 Nov 2021 · 9 min

   The Invention of the Tank

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the invention of the Tank.----more----At the outbreak of World War One, armies had infantry, artillery and cavalry. Many of the general had been in the cavalry themselves. However, once war started everyone realized that cavalry was not going to be very useful in this war. Machine guns fired bullets so fast that the cavalry were shot dead before they could finish their charge. The war soon became trench warfare as soldiers dug trenches to keep safe from the bullets. You couldn’t put a horse in a trench. The area between the trenches was also…

7. 

   E109 · 22 Nov 2021 · 9 min

   The History of Pollution and Saving the Planet

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) have been learning about Climate Change at school as part of the COP conference. They have made a podcast about the history of pollution and saving the planet.----more----Our story starts 800 years ago. Edward I was King of England. Coal was discovered in Newcastle and many London homes started using it to keep their houses warm. However, it made the city very smokey. The King’s mother thought it was so smokey that she left the town. The King decided to act. He banned people from using coal for their fires to try to make the air cleaner. However, people just…

8. 

   E108 · 15 Nov 2021 · 10 min

   The Fall of Constantinople

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantinople was all that was left of the once mighty Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 1500 years ago, the Eastern Roman Empire survived. Its capital was Constantinople. Over time though it became known as the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was a might city. It had 500,000 people living there and huge walls to protect it. Then came Islam. People who follow Islam are called Muslims. They conquered much of the Byzantine Empire. Other Christians came to help. This was called the…

9. 

   E107 · 8 Nov 2021 · 10 min

   The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

   Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in the week of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.----more---- World War One had been a terrible war. Millions had been killed by machine guns and explosions. The fighting was so terrible that many of the bodies were never found. Back in Britain that meant is was difficult for people to properly grieve. It was decided to bury one unknown soldier in Britain to represent everyone who had died. That way everyone would have a place to go and to mourn. Four unknown soldiers were dug up from their graves in…

10. 

    E106 · 1 Nov 2021 · 9 min

    The Aztecs

    Sophie (age 8) and Ellie (age 6) tell the story of the mighty Aztec Empire.----more---- The Aztecs ruled central America for hundreds of years. They conquered it from other countries. They were fierce warriors. Their capital was called Tenochtitlan. This is now the capital of Mexico. Back then it was an island on a lake. It had gleaming white palaces and Pyramids with temples on the tops of them. Religion was very important to the Aztecs. They practiced human sacrifice. This is where they would kill people to make the Gods happy. They used to capture enemies and sacrifice them. They would…