20th Century

(Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC History Magazine)

The big question: has the European Union been a success?

Photo of Adolf Hitler

Rise of a dictator: how did Hitler gain power and become the führer of Germany?

Youths salute Adolf Hitler

Second World War

Hitler Youth: how the Third Reich used children’s organisations to wage war

Portrait of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), who disappeared in 1974 following a bloody homicide

The curious case of Lord Lucan + 10 other mysterious disappearances from history

Premium

Historian Claire Wright (Photo by Susan Papazian)

Fighting for the vote . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Glamorous portrait of movie actress Hedy Lamarr wearing white fox fur short jacket

History hero Martha Lane Fox chooses Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000)

The state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill

The death of Sir Winston Churchill and the top-secret plans for his funeral

Child survivors at Auschwitz

Second World War

A brief history of Auschwitz

Turkish artillery of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

6 lesser-known facts about the Ottoman Empire

Princess Margaret wearing a fur coat

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 13 facts about Princess Margaret

American president Warren G Harding and his wife, First Lady Florence Harding.

Tension in the Middle East and populist presidents: what the world was like 100 years ago

Premium

Pod Colin Grant WL

The Windrush generation . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

German prisoners of war

What would you have done? 6 terrible choices people had to make during the Second World War

New York City police watching agents pour liquor into a sewer

Wet vs Dry: how prohibition fractured America

Queen Victoria with Prince Albert and their children in 1846. After a painting by F Winterhalter. Victoria’s husband, Albert, “carved out for the crown a moral kind of authority as the nation’s first and model family,” says Sarah Gristwood. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Retaining the royals: why has the British monarchy survived – and thrived?