Eisenhower: D-Day and the Birth of the American Superpower

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In June 1944, the joint forces of the Allies began the liberation of continental Europe on D-Day. But was there tension within the ranks?

Don speaks to Michel Paradis to find out how Eisenhower's leadership helped win the war. How did he deal with the strained relationship between the fading colonial powers of Britain and France, and the rising superpowers, the US and the USSR? How did he police the behaviour of the American troops in Europe? And why did a summit meeting almost end in a fist fight?

Michel is a leading human rights lawyer, historian, and national security law scholar. His book on this topic is 'The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Max Carrey. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Raza Jaffrey and in the latest season of the Spy Who, we open the file on Willie
0:08.0	Carlin, the spy who sold peace to the IRA. When Carlin quit the British Army to return to Northern Ireland
0:15.9	during the Troubles he received an unusual job offer to spy on his own
0:20.8	community. He would quickly find himself deep within the Irish
0:25.3	Republican movement having to choose between preserving his cover or his
0:29.7	conscience. For 30 years, paramilitary groups from both sides murdered, maimed and bombed,
0:37.0	while British intelligence waged a dirty war in the shadows.
0:41.0	Follow the Spy Who on the Wondery App, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can
0:47.8	binge the full season of the spy who sold peace to the IRA early and add free with Wondery Plus.
0:57.0	Not one American is going to die on that goddamn beach.
1:07.0	We weren't in that room in Cairo in 1943, but we can imagine the confrontation. General George Marshall fist thumping on the heavy wooden table,
1:17.0	his furrowed brow casting shadows over his eyes,
1:20.0	only underscoring the fury of his expression.
1:23.0	Given the famous quote,
1:25.0	it's likely Marshall pointed an angry finger
1:28.0	at his British counterpart, Alan Brooke.
1:30.0	And likely the others in the room,
1:32.0	some of the most powerful leaders in the world, like President
1:35.3	Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, China's Chenkai Czech, and Joseph Stalin shifted
1:41.6	uncomfortably in their seats, witnessing as they were a showdown between
1:45.8	superpowers.
1:47.5	It would be a meeting that ended prematurely and without resolution. Hi everyone I'm Don Wildman, your host. Thanks for listening to American History
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -170 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.