JB Shreve presents the End of History

the End of History: a podcast and website focusing on honest, intelligent faith in a generation of rising darkness

This episode picks up where the Civil War episode left off and tells the story of the declaration of Israeli independence and statehood by David Ben Gurion and the following Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

Before there was an Israeli state and before there was an Arab-Israeli War, there was a civil war in Palestine. This episode picks up with the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and details the terrorist activity and that predated the declaration of an Israeli state and how it boiled over into a civil war in Palestine. A really interesting thing to watch for in this part of the history is how so much of the terrorist activity performed by the Zionist underground organizations in the 1940s would be modeled by Palestinian and Arab resistance movements from the 1970s into the present decade.

the End of History: a podcast and website focusing on honest, intelligent faith in a generation of rising darkness

We continue with our look at the effects of fundamentalists and extremism in India since the 1980s with this episode. The culmination of this trend is directly related to the recent elections in India.

Following the 1975 Emergency India's new normal was one marked by new levels of fundamentalism, terrorism, and tragedy. The 1980s and 90s would be marked by major political assassinations, massacres and unprecedented polarization. This episode is divided into two parts. Part two will publish next week. 

Historians of modern Indian history enjoy recounting how, despite its many problems, the nation of India is above all else the world's largest democracy. In 1975 this was put to the ultimate test under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. This episode recounts how The Emergency unfolded and the great toll it took on Indian society which would see its repercussions for the following decades. To understand India today and the context of the next set of episodes, you have to understand the Emergency of 1975.

Upon the death of India's second Prime Minister, Shastri, the way was opened for the ascent of Indira Gandhi. This episode follows the path of the apex of the dream of modern India under Indira including the war against Pakistan to free Bangladesh and end the genocide. 

We pick up in this episode following the death of Nehru and the Indian loss to China in the 1962 war. A new prime minister and a new war with Pakistan make up the topics we cover here. 

While Nehru envisioned an Asian Axis between China and India, the great alliance was not to be. This episode follows the path to the Ind0-China War of 1962, the circumstances that brought it about and the devastating effects which the war had on India's history.

We continue to look at the post independence phase of the creation of the new nation of India. In this episode we look at the efforts of the Indian National Congress to hold the union of the new nation together after partition with threats from the princely states as well as the tribal regions for secession.  A few of the main characters from this episode are featured in images below.  

He is recognized by many as the father of modern India. Nehru was the man who led India not only during the transition from independence to nationhood but he also helped to establish the new nation in the international order. He was among the most influential men of the 20th Century and we look at his story in this episode.

The drama of the birthing of the new state of India continues to unfold in this episode as we look at the tragedy of the Great Partition. This  catastrophe would result in as many as 2 million violent deaths, 14 million refugees and key problems which the new nations of India and Pakistan would be forced to deal with for decades.

This episode on the history of modern India follows how India became a state. We will look at some of the key figures in the final days of the British Raj as well as the method used for determining the borders between the new nations of India and Pakistan. Finally, we will see how the stage was set for the violence that followed in the Great Partition.

In this episode we look at the continuing history of India and the independence movement at the time of World War II. Here we find a series of missteps by the Indian National Congress that helped propel the proponents of an independent Pakistan into the forefront during this critical time period and the seeds of the violence of the Great Partition are planted.