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After two once in a lifetime kind of wars that changed the landscape of the world in the span of 30 years, it was not just the soldiers that wanted the fighting to stop. Outlooks, beliefs, practices, faith, loyalty, and security, just to name a few of the things that had been changed as a result of these conflicts.  And this wasn’t just in the general population, this was a time when the world saw a changing of the guard so to speak in the way of diplomacy. Foreign relations and overall trust also changed; to the point that the allied countries in WW2 were at a preverbal global risk board in a dimly lit corner of the room long before the war had even ended. This was a time that, even as world leaders were meeting with each other as allies speaking strategy out of one side of their mouth, they were, on the other side making “backroom” deals and maneuvers to make sure that they came out on top not only of the ones they were fighting against, but also the ones they were fighting alongside. There maybe no better example of this than the positioning plays that were done at the Yalta conference where the big 3 met to decide on the reorganization of Europe after the war concluded.  Josef Stalin, the Russian president, had always feared that the other countries aligned themselves with Russia as a result of the concept of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And, in reality, this really wasn’t that much of a stretch. After all, the allied coalition was made up of countries that the only thing they opposed more staunchly than Soviet communism was German fascism and what Hitler represented. As it turns out, Stalin’s paranoia wasn’t completely unfounded.  Also, if we want to look at the polarity of the situation, the natural enemy to communism was capitalism of any kind, whether it be the Democratic Capitalism that America represented or the Imperial Capitalism that was in operation in Europe. The constant looking over of every shoulder in this time period was not only warranted, but also a necessity.   Links to research aides: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-end-of-the-british-empire-after-the-second-world-war http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_01.shtml https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/the-sad-end-of-the-british-empire-110362   --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message

The what, why, when are all questions that can be debated about the beginning of the Cold War. In this episode we take a look at what, we believe, to be one of the critical launching points of this "not hot, but warm" conflict as we consider what might be the first arms race of this era. In this introduction, we present to you 10 of the most influential technological advancements that WW1 brought to the world stage. This list is by no means exhaustive, and you will probably have points where you disagree with this, but that's okay. After all, the WW1 era may have possibly been the era where technology was making one of its biggest steps forward. Our main research source for this series is the book, "The Cold War: A New History" by John Lewis Gaddis. Purchase his book from Amazon from the link on the books title. For additional resource reference sites, please email us at [email protected]  Follow us on Twitter @walls_beyond, on Facebook & Instagram by searching "Beyond The Walls Podcast." --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message

At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet submarine commander Vasili Arkhipov had the power to decide whether or not World War III would begin. With the United States and the Soviet Union on the brink of nuclear war, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the tensest moments in modern history.  But at the peak of the crisis, one Soviet naval officer managed to keep a cool head and avert nuclear devastation. After weeks of U.S. intelligence gathering that pointed toward a Soviet arms buildup in Cuba, the inciting incident came on Oct. 14 when an American spy plane flying over the island photographed missile sites under construction.  With Cuba a mere 90 miles from the U.S. mainland, missiles launched from there would be able to strike most of the eastern United States within a matter of minutes. The Soviets and their fellow communist allies in Cuba had secretly reached a deal to place those missiles on the island in July. The Soviets wanted to shore up their nuclear strike capabilities against the U.S. (which had recently placed missiles in Turkey, bordering the Soviet Union, as well as Italy) and the Cubans wanted to prevent the Americans from attempting another invasion of the island like the unsuccessful one they’d launched in April 1961. Through a series of tense negotiations over the coming days, the Americans and the Soviets worked out a deal to end the conflict. By Oct. 28, the Americans had agreed to remove their missiles from Turkey and the Soviets had agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. But while the two countries’ leaders were handling the negotiations, they were largely unaware of a much more precarious situation that was going on below the surface in the Caribbean. Research Sources:  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/27/vasili-arkhipov-soviet-submarine-captain-who-averted-nuclear-war-awarded-future-of-life-prize http://www.garyslaughter.com/ Find us on Social Media Twitter: @Walls_Beyond Facebook & Instagram: @beyondthewallspodcast Email: [email protected]  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message

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Early in 1939, the world's scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. Scientists ALBERT EINSTEIN, who fled Nazi persecution, and ENRICO FERMI, who escaped Fascist Italy, were now living in the United States. They agreed that the President must be informed of the dangers of atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. Fermi traveled to Washington in March to express his concerns to government officials. But few shared his uneasiness. Leaving nothing to chance, Los Alamos atomic scientists conducted a pre-test test in May 1945 to check the monitoring instruments. A 100-ton bomb was exploded some 800 yards from the Trinity site where Gadget would be detonated a few weeks later. Einstein penned a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program later that year. Roosevelt saw neither the necessity nor the utility for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly. In late 1941, the American effort to design and build an ATOMIC BOMB received its code name — the MANHATTAN PROJECT. At first the research was based at only a few universities — Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley. A breakthrough occurred in December 1942 when Fermi led a group of physicists to produce the first controlled NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION under the grandstands of STAGG FIELD at the University of Chicago. Enrico Fermi, a physicist who left fascist Italy for America, encouraged the U.S. to begin atomic research. The result was the top-secret "Manhattan Project." After this milestone, funds were allocated more freely, and the project advanced at breakneck speed. Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. The main assembly plant was built at LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER was put in charge of putting the pieces together at Los Alamos. After the final bill was tallied, nearly $2 billion had been spent on research and development of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project employed over 120,000 Americans. Secrecy was paramount. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese could learn of the project. Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed that Stalin would be kept in the dark. Consequently, there was no public awareness or debate. Keeping 120,000 people quiet would be impossible; therefore only a small privileged cadre of inner scientists and officials knew about the atomic bomb's development. In fact, Vice-President Truman had never heard of the Manhattan Project until he became President Truman. Although the Axis powers remained unaware of the efforts at Los Alamos, American leaders later learned that a Soviet spy named KLAUS FUCHS had penetrated the inner circle of scientists. This crater in the Nevada desert was created by a 104 kiloton nuclear bomb buried 635 feet beneath the surface. It is the result of a 1962 test investigating whether nuclear weapons could be used to excavate canals and harbors. By the summer of 1945, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb. On July 16, 1945, at TRINITY SITE near ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. The device was affixed to a 100-foot tower and discha --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message

Nowadays, browsing the aisles of candy corn and plastic bats, it’s hard to imagine that Halloween was ever an article of controversy. But the history of Halloween in America was surprisingly contentious. It took a long time to become established as a mainstream holiday and was resisted, perhaps not so surprisingly, by religious authorities. Halloween has its origins in the Celtic holiday of Samhain. It was a druidic festival held between the evening of October 31 and sunset of the following day. The ancient Druids believed that during this night, the separation between the worlds of the living and the dead softened. Ghosts, they believed, roamed the countryside, damaging crops and meddling in human affairs. And it was also a time when divination was thought to be more powerful. After the Celts were conquered by the Romans, Samhain underwent a series of revisions. Over the course of the four-hundred-year Roman governorship, Samhain blended with two similar Roman holidays – Feralia, a day to honor the dead, and a holiday to celebrate Pomona, the Roman goddess of trees and fruit. Samhain was later suppressed by the Roman Church and replaced with All Souls’ Day, which incorporated many of the Samhain traditions such as costume-wearing and bonfires. All Souls’ Day, alternatively called All Hallow’s Eve and eventually Halloween, had trouble establishing itself as a mainstream holiday in America. It was vigorously resisted by the Puritans in the New England colonies, but had an easier time winning hearts and minds in Maryland and other southern states. It wasn’t until the huge influx of Irish and Scottish immigrants in the later part of the 19th Century that Halloween in America became nationally popular. It was then that Halloween really started to take shape into the form that’s most familiar to us. Celebrants would dress in costumes and go from door to door asking for money or food, the origin of the modern trick-or-treat. People also told ghost stories, played pranks, and raised hell.The holiday’s raucous character elicited pushback from some concerned parties, who moved to domesticate the holiday into something more focused on community than the occult. Newspapers and community figureheads discouraged parents from including anything phantasmagorical from their parties and instead focus on games and food. By the early 20th Century, Halloween had been largely gutted of its death and mayhem overtones. Halloween, though sanitized, still carried (and carries) with it an attendant spike in property destruction. And religious groups continued (and continue) to protest the holiday’s aesthetics and Pagan origins. Many Christians consider the holiday a benign occasion, or even a religiously relevant one, considering Halloween’s close historical ties with the faith. Others, though, denounce loudly. It had a rocky first few centuries, but Halloween is now entrenched as one of the most popular holidays in the country. Halloween in America has undergone many transformations, but as it stands now, it is an almost entirely secular affair, split evenly between children playing dress-up and adult revelers. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message

Samhain being the feast of fire, has also held a place in some minds as the feast of the dead as well. With some holding that it is seen as incorporating the cult of Donn (Lord of the Dead we referenced in Part 1) into its celebrations but whether this is accurate, or how they did so remains uncertain. The idea that Samhain is a juncture between the two halves of the year placed it in the unusual realm of being suspended in time - it did not belong to the old year not the new. We view the year in modern times as being comprised of four parts, Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter. While, for the ancient Celts, it was primarily viewed as two seasons; winter and summer. So, the night of Samhain held a weird place of not being part of summer…. But, it had yet to become winter. Many believed that It could be said that time stood still on this night and the implications of this could be, and were in some cases, terrifying. During this night and the limbo that it was believed to represent, the natural order of life, nature, time and the spiritual realm was thrown into chaos and the earthly world of the living (not only humans, but livestock, plants, nature itself was all dangerously threatened by “death” moving its way into their reality during this day). To put it simply it was believed that the world of everything living, became hopelessly entangled with the world of the dead. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ben-james/message