Greece (after Russia) really wanted to get its hands on Constantinople after World War One and the surrender of the Ottoman Empire. And given its history as a Greek city and the heart of the classical Greek world, why didn’t Greece get the city? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. […]

The island of Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom which controls the north. But given that the Irish fought a short and brutal war for independence, why didn’t the north leave the UK with the rest of Ireland? To find out why Ireland is still divided watch this short […]

Communist governments and monarchies don’t mix. But when Grenada had a communist revolution in 1979, it opted to keep the Queen as its leader. Which is a bit odd. So why? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. Patreon: Merch: A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom […]

When most countries conquer overseas lands they keep them as colonies. Yet in the case of Algeria, France made it a part of France itself in the same way that Paris or Corsica were. So why did France do this and how did a part of France itself manage to become independent? To find out […]

As you’ll have noticed, the United Kingdom doesn’t include Hanover. However, from 1714 to 1837 both were ruled by the same monarchs and unlike Scotland and England prior to this, the two never unified and in fact they soon went their own separate ways. So why did this happen? Why didn’t Britain try to keep […]

Spain was the largest European nation to sit World War One out but given how desperate both sides were to bring in new allies, why didn’t Spain get involved. To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. Patreon: Merch: A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom the show […]

Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea are all called Guinea to some degree. But what led to this happening? Why are there four modern nations called Guinea? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. Patreon: Merch: A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom the show […]

Britain and France haven’t historically been the best of friends yet nowadays they are firm allies and there hasn’t been a war between them in over two hundred years. But why did this age-old rivalry and mutual hatred come to an end? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. Patreon: Merch: […]

In the late 19th century there were two (almost three) attempts by Germany to build an alliance comprising of itself, Austria-Hungary and Russia with the sole purpose of isolating France. This alliance, the League of the Three Emperors failed to take hold twice but given how strong it would have been why did it fail? […]

The Scramble for Africa saw many of Europe’s great powers occupy and colonise much of the continent. Yet Spain, despite its long imperial history and status as a European power, barely got anything. Less than Belgium even. So why was this the case? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. Patreon: […]

Gran Colombia is one of history’s great ‘what if’ countries. It was a large South American power which only existed for 12 years before breaking into pieces and becoming Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. So why did this nation fracture? Why did Gran Colombia Fail? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary. […]

The Boxer Rebellion saw Chinese rebels attempt to force foreign influence out of the country and it resulted in none of that happening. Instead eight great powers formed a coalition to crush the rebellion and force more concessions out of China. But given how much the great powers disliked each other why did they team […]